Site Editor posted on February 10, 2012 22:40
Determination, desire and a strong will were traits displayed by Jonathan Ruiz last night as Williamstown defeated top seed Cherokee 5-3 in a playoff thriller played at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. In front of a near packed house, the fans were treated to one of the best playoff games in a long time, tight checking, good defense and solid goaltending and good officiating. Ruiz led Williamstown with a het trick; Dylan Bradley led Cherokee with two goals.
Bradley gave Cherokee a 1-0 lead scoring a power play goal on a nice feed from Cole Zucker. Williamstown would tie the game at 1-1 as Allan Haynes connected on a pass from Vince Salvadori with three minutes left in the period. Cherokee came back in the final minute as Casey Forte slid a perfect pass to Jason Spieker and he beat Troy Altbaum down low for a 2-1 lead after one. Ruiz would tie the game at 2-2 midway through the second period as he stole the puck at canter ice and scored on a breakaway for his first of three.
Christopher Brown would give Williamstown its first lead with three minutes left in the period on a good keep at the point by Matt Verna and he found Brown in the slot and the Braves led 3-2 heading into the third period. Cherokee had a few opportunities on the man advantage but Altbaum made several key stops to keep the game at 3-2. Bradley finally tied the game at 3-3 scoring with about eight minutes left. But Williamstown went on the power play and Ruiz picked the top corner long-side and his laser from the point just creaked in under the cross-bar and the Braves had the lead at 4-3.
Give the Williamstown coaching staff credit as they went into a defensive mode that I have not seen them play all season, with Ruiz playing back and it seemed like he played the last four minutes of the game, as each time Cherokee penetrated there was Ruiz to fight for the puck and clear the zone. Haynes had a chance to ice the game with about two minutes left as he had a breakaway, but Dan Navarra stoned him to keep it 4-3. After pulling Navarra for an extra skater in the final minute, Ruiz was stationed in the slot in front of his own net, picked off a pass and shot the puck down the ice into the empty net. With the 5-3 win Williamstown will now face Moorestown, with the winner going to the Championship.
Notes: Clearview and Township and Cherokee and Shawnee will play each other in the loser bracket with a loss ending the season for 2 teams. Both John Phillips and Brian Leig did an excellent job in letting the boys play.
Written by Mike Costantino
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