Monday May 23 (Final)

Altius pull off spectacular comeback leaving Dragons in disbelief

In sport, playing in a final is the pinnacle, but losing a final is awful. They say there are no prizes for second place even though you made it that far compared to many other teams that didn’t get the chance. But if there is to be a fate worse than finishing as the runner up, its being remembered only because you blew it, chocked, snatched  defeat-from the jaws of victory. The Dragons had an incredible start o their night, getting a bunch of goals throughout their line up while relying on Joe DeStefano to stand on his head early to keep the Altius off the score sheet. Much of it carried into game two with the Dragons racing off to a commanding 3-0 lead. Again, J.Mandracchia and M.Fazzari were connecting as the two players had combined for nine points till then. The Dragons would eventually carry a 4-1 lead looking like they were headed to their final destination, a championship title. Still, this contest wasn’t over, and the Altius got a slight spark when E.Girouard scored to pull his club within two. By that point, the Dragons still felt in control of the overall situation up until M.Arkalis narrowed the gap by one. Now with three minutes left in the game , the Dragons were rattled knowing that this is far-from being over. There was no doubt the anxiety was creeping in for a side that thought they had it in the bag. Surely, they still thought they could win since they were playing with the lead while the clock was ticking down. However, the Altius had other ideas running on adrenaline and momentum. All they needed was one opportunity, one shot on net to force a shootout. And who other than P.Arkalis to pull through as the highly skilled player riffled a rocket in desperation to level the score. His tally left all but four seconds on the clock which now tied the game and forced a three man shootout. Out of the six combined players taking their shot, the Altius scored on all three tries to complete an extraordinary comeback. If momentum plays any role in sports, this series was a great example of it. The Altius came out harder in game three and barely wasted time getting on board when E.Girouard tapped in a rebound -from in front of the net. The Dragons did have a chance to level on the power play only to find themselves in a deeper hole when A.Kobyati made it 2-0. That play was a clear indicator of where this series was headed despite plenty of time left over. By then, it was destined that the Altius were going to prevail since everything was going right for them. D.Bertrand put the final stamp netting two late insurance tallies to solidify a remarkable turn of events. On behalf of Hockeyballe.com, congratulations go out to Mathew Melo and his team for accomplishing quite a feat.

(6)Dragons vs Altius(2) Game 1

(7)Altius vs Dragons(6) S.O Game 2

(0)Dragons vs Altius(4) Game 3

The SalumiVino player of the night goes to Paolo Delli Colli of the Altius. After a shaky start in game one, no one can argue how influential P.Delli Colli was for the Altius on Monday night. The goaltender battled through some difficult moments, but kept the games alive because of his determination to stopping the ball. Game two was won because he denied all three shootout attempts by the Dragons, and game three was decided thanks to his 7 save shutout.