This past weekend the Moose hosted conference rival New York Apple Core.
As always the teams battled hard and the games were hard fought. In
front of a great crowd all weekend the teams battled for playoff positioning
before the holiday break.
On Saturday the Moose took the lead with nine minutes to go in the first
period. Ryan Cheng added to his league leading total off a pass from
Omar Husain. Husain who is playing his best hockey of the season was
impressive all weekend long. The first period would end with the Moose
up one. Matt Galeano would put the Moose up by two off passes from Husain
and Cheng. Five minutes later Apple Core would cut the lead in half.
The Moose headed into the second intermission up 2 to 1. Early in the
third Cheng would strike again for his second of the game off great
passes from Galeano and Gavin Grogan. The teams would go back and forth
for the rest of the game and the Moose were able to hold on for the
3 to 1 win. Peter Guerriera played very well in net making a number
of big saves to help seal the win.
Sunday morning the two teams would again have another hard fought battle.
Apple Core really came out fired up and took it to the Moose early on
in every aspect of the game. Apple Core would go up by two early in
the first before Moose Captain Joe Gilhooly would get the Moose on the
board off a great effort play. Apple Core would respond quickly again
thought and they took a commanding 3 to 1 lead into the first intermission.
The Moose needed to regroup in between periods and get their heads screwed
on straight. The team came out with a renewed energy and purpose in
the second and began to take over the game. They picked up the physical
play and intensity and the results showed on the scoreboard. The newest
member of the Moose, Marshall Johnson would score his first goal as
a Moose off a great passes from Gilhooly and defensemen Rory McManus.
Defensemen Omar Husain continued his impressive weekend picking up the
next Moose tally off a feed from Matt Galeano. Another recent acquisition
Luke Morrel would add his first since rejoining the Moose off of great
plays from Michael Donato and John Schiavo. Ryan Cheng would tack on
the next Moose goal, picking up where he left off on Saturday off passes
from Galeano and Gavin Grogan. The Moose lead 5-3 going into the third
period. Forward Sam Manzi would continue the Moose rampage scoring just
over a minute into the third off passes from Schiavo and Patrick Schule.
Schule would add one of his own just four minutes later with the assists
going to McManus and Schiavo. The Moose then lost focus and Apple Core
would tack on two more to tighten the game again. The Moose again responded
to the adversity and would convert a 5 on 3 oppurtunity as Cheng got
his second of the game off passes from Grogan and Schule. Marshall Johnson
would finish the scoring for the game by adding his second of the game
off passes from Schiavo and Schule. Peter Guerriera made 28 saves to
pick up his second win of the weekend.
The Moose stay atop the Western Conference with 44 points. The team
has worked hard thus far but know there is much more hard work ahead
as they prepare for the stretch run of the season. The team heads to
Virginia and Suffolk the next two weekends before getting a much needed
holiday break. Forwards Evan Kundrat and Brian Schehr remain out with
injuries. Both hope to return to the lineup around the holidays.