Mr. Ice Hockey posted on March 13, 2019 22:45
Eastern trailed 4-1 early into the second period, but staged a rally and defeated rival Cherokee 6-5 in the semi-final game in the Flyers Cup played at Voorhees. Coach Zuber would probably prefer his team not fall behind early, but it’s how you finish that counts. Just like the first round game against Township where they trailed by 4-0, Eastern kept working. Jeremy Ambrose would give Cherokee a 1-0 lead early in the game and a power play goal by Jake Frankenfield had the lead to 2-0 after one period. Connor Riley put the Vikings on the board early in the second period, but goals by Sam Berger and Dustin Patterson had the lead to 4-1.
Luke A. Riley would start the comeback late in the period as the Vikings would have a two-man advantage in the final minute and Riley’s goal had the Vikings with the momentum going into the third period. Sean Pomerantz got them to within 4-3 in the first two minutes, but Ambrose would intercept a clearing pass and found Patrick Dugan in front and his deflection gave the Chiefs a 5-3 lead. Kris Zapata, the hero from the Township game, would get the first of his two on the night at the eleven minute mark and the Vikings were to within 5-4. Luke Riley would get his second of the night to tie the game at 5-5 with just less than five minutes left in the third.
Cherokee would have a golden opportunity a few moments later, going on the power play, but Zapata would convert on a short-handed breakaway to score the game winner. The Vikings now move into the finals and will play Delaware Military Academy this Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center at 11:30am. Please come out and root home the Vikings!!
Written by Mike Costantino