Hooksett, NH –The New Hampshire Junior Monarchs travelled to Syracuse, NY this past weekend to face a desperate Syracuse Stars team, starving for a win after losing back-to-back games with the Valley Warriors.
After a 6-plus hour bus trip from Hooksett to Syracuse, the team got off to a sluggish start and went down 4-1 to the home Stars. The Monarchs would battle back however, and by the end of the 2nd period the game would be tied at 5-5 with Brooks Herrington scoring twice in the period. The team would fail to capitalize on the momentum of their 2nd period scoring onslaught and fall to the Stars 7-6.
The 2nd game of the series would be a much lower scoring affair with the Monarchs trailing just 2-0 towards the end of the 2nd. Pat Kiley would end the period with a huge message of things to come as he would take a Pat Doherty feed and bury it with just 4 seconds remaining in the frame. The 3rd period would be all Monarchs as they would outshoot the Stars 17-9 and knot the game at 2 with Herrington’s 3rd goal of the weekend from linemates Jamie Ferullo and Peter DeAngelo. The game would remain tied at the end of regulation, and a 5-minute overtime would be needed. 3 minutes into overtime Zak Stone would make a great play from below the Stars’ goal line to get the puck to the team’s leading goal scorer Alex Gacek who would add one more tally to his season totals and give the Monarchs the OT win and the weekend split.
The team will continue their Northern Division play this week as they face off against the Valley Warriors this Thursday afternoon at home, and then head to Albany, NY to face the CD Selects for 2 games.