Site Editor posted on March 02, 2009 22:34
The Moorestown Quakers got two goals each from Alec Nicolai and Mike Eni as they defeated Cherokee 7-6 in the Championship game last night at Pennsauken. In control most of the way Moorestown had two four goal leads, and did an outstanding job defensively on All-Star forward Frank Garvey, limiting to one goal late in the game. The win gave Moorestown its first ever Championship in the SJHSIHL. From the first period Moorestown was in control, scoring four goals. Nicolai gave Moorestown a 1-0 lead putting home a rebound of a shot by Alex Hashmi.
At the six minute mark, Corey Pedersen dug the puck out of the right corner and found Eric DeStefano in the slot and he deposited the second goal into the net for a 2-0 advantage. Shane Brennan and Eni both scored in the final seconds of the period and Moorestown was cruising 4-0. Cherokee got some life early in the second period as Matt Shernoff put home the puck from down low. Two minutes later with a two-man advantage on the power play, Cherokee got to within 4-2 as Pat Mohnacs scored. That rally was short-lived as Moorestown scored a short-handed goal eighteen seconds later, Chris Carnivale doing the honors and the lead was 5-2. Two minutes later Nicolai deflected a pass from Tyler Woyshner into the top corner and once again the lead was at four goals at 6-2.
Anthony Santisi and Eni exchanged goals in the last five minutes and Moorestown headed into the third period leading 7-3. Cherokee need to score early and often to have a chance, and they got one two minutes into the period as Jake Ahle did the honors and the lead was 7-4. Moorestown, not needing anymore goals, played defensive and were content to dump and chase. Garvey finally broke through with three minutes left to bring Cherokee to within 7-5. Ahle added his second goal with six seconds left in the game, but Cherokee ran out of time. We congratulate Coach Griffis, his staff and players and especially Ron Schwinn, who has been waiting a few years for this, and by the looks of it, this could be the beginning of a nice run.
Written by Mike Costantino
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