Ice Hockey Falls To Becker In Worcester City Shootout Final

Worcester, MA --- Becker freshman Andrew Bates (Marblehead, MA) netted the game-winning goal 24 seconds overtime to help lift the Hawks to a 4-3 victory over Worcester State in the championship game of the inaugural Worcester City Shootout this evening at Buffone Rink.

Becker (5-8-1) staked the 1-0 advantage after one period of play when first-year Ronald Kokas (Miramar, FL) put his team on the board at the 15:38 mark taking advantage of a power play.

The Hawks increased their margin with a pair of markers late in the second period. Following a major penalty by Worcester State, sophomore Korby Anderson (Owantonna, MI) registered his team-leading ninth tally of the year with 14:27 off the clock before classmate Don Kane (Staten Island, NY) added the third score less than 95 seconds later on a dish from Kokas.

But Worcester State (5-5-2) came roaring back with a trio of goals in the third period.

For the first two goals of the outburst it was the Lancers turn to take advantage of a Becker five-minute violation. Freshman Stephen Rock (Tulsa, OK) started the rally with an unassisted goal at 7:12 and then at the 10:51 mark, junior Tim Bowman (Moorspark, CA) registered his first tally of the season.

First-year Curtis Martin (Okotaks, Alberta) would send in the game-tying marker with 1:30 left in the contest with assists from Rock and senior Tim D'Orazio (Jamieson, PA).

That would set the stage for Bates, who would scoop in the decisive unassisted goal in the opening moments of the extra session.

Senior Jake Rosenthal (Wantagh, NY) recorded 35 stops in the triumph for Becker while fourth-year Bryan Kalczynski (Tonawanda, NY) collected 36 saves for WSU.

Overall Becker had the slim advantage in shots (40-38) as they led 32-21 through the first two periods while the Blue and Gold had a 17-7 edge in the final frame.

Five of the games seven markers were scored off with the extra man advantage as there were 15 combined power plays.

Martin and senior Nick Asterito (Philadelphia, PA) were both tabbed to the all-tournament team. Asterito scored the games lone goal in a 1-0 triumph over Nichols in the semifinals.

Bates nabbed MVP honors while David Graham (Rancho Cucamunga, CA) also earned all-tournament honors.

Representing Nichols was Wil Brown (Hershey, PA) and Louis Educate (Chicago, IL), who registered a hat-trick in their 6-2 consolation contest victory over Assumption.