Editor posted on February 04, 2011 22:14
Ben Basalma had a hat trick as Washington Township defeated Cherry Hill East 8-3 in a playoff opener for Township at Hollydell ice rink. East was coming off an opening round win against Lenape and will now go into the losers’ bracket. Eddie Sarin and Garrett Quinn added two goals for the top seeded Minutemen. The teams were tied after the first period as Sarin and Dan Desrochers traded goals and Ben Tice stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced.
Township broke the game open in the second period scoring four times, with Basalma getting two. Basalma scored an unassisted goal in the opening two minutes to give Township the lead for good and about five minutes later Jonathan Smith hit Quinn with a nice pass in the circle and his quick shot beat Tice and the lead was 3-1. Offensively East only generated four shots and when Sarin and Basalma scored three minutes apart late in the period the lead was 5-1 and seemed pretty safe.
But with the senior leadership on East to their credit they mounted a rally in the third period scoring two goals in the first seven minutes to give them some hope as goals by Tyler Caton and Sam Kaufman cut the lead to 5-3. Quinn restored order for Township moments later getting his second of the night and the lead was 6-3. Goals by Basalma and Austin Haslett in the final two minutes sealed the game.
Notes: With the win Township will play Clearview next no date on that game. The remaining schedule for Monday night is Williamstown vs. Eastern, Cinnaminson vs. Lenape, and Cherry Hill East vs. Holy Cross. Shawnee and Cherokee will play next Friday.
Written by Mike Costantino
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