Jr. Manatees Win MLK Day Tournament
January 20, 2004 - SPHL (SPHL)
Miami Manatees News Release
The Miami Jr. Manatees PeeWee A travel hockey team persevered through a weekend that had them short five players at one point or another, and with a bit of divine intervention, won the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Tournament at Kendall Ice Arena Sunday afternoon.
A rained out baseball game got team captain Taylor Berman, who changed uniforms in his dad's car, to the rink just as the championship game started. Berman scored the first goal, alternate captain Andy Guervich added two, and Erick Charles another to give the Jr. Manatees a 4-1 win over the Glacier Bears A team.
Berman broke a scoreless deadlock with a strong individual effort fighting off three Glacier defenders at 1:36 of the 12-minute second period. Guervich's game winner came a couple of minutes later in a goal-mouth scramble at 3:28, with Berman getting an assist. Glacier's goal, scored by Jeffrey Albeck off an assist from Jesse Lapin, came with the Jr. Manatees two men short and only 2:19 left in the game. The Jr. Manatees fought off another two-man disadvantage earlier in the third period with goaltender Erik Kennedy making several key saves.
The Jr. Manatees advanced to the final with a thrilling double-overtime first round win over the Palm Beach Panthers Sunday morning, rebounding from an 8-1 pounding at the hands of the Panthers on Saturday. Playing four-on-four, D.J. Gaudet picked up a center-ice pass from Erick Charles and drove a 45-foot slap shot past the Panthers goalie with only 10 seconds remaining in the second overtime.
The Jr. Manatees' MLK Day Tournament adventure began Friday with an opening game win missing only two players â one at a national speed skating competition and the other at a state girls hockey ranking tournament. But, with four players missing for one game and five for another, the 12-under Jr. Manatees got trounced twice on Saturday.
Waiting at home with dim hopes, the baby sea cows got a call from their team manager after a 9-0 win by the Glacier Raiders over the Fort Myers Phantoms Saturday night put the them into a fourth place tie with Fort Myers for the final playoff spot. The goal differential tiebreaker went to the Jr. Manatees by one goal.
Taking a page from the Florida Marlins, the Jr. Manatees made the most of their opportunity.
"The team got down on themselves when we fell behind in the two Saturday games," said head coach Gary Levy. "But, we got a couple of players back Sunday and they stepped up to the challenge by beating the same teams who dominated us on Saturday. In fact, they had never beaten the Palm Beach Panthers in a league game or scrimmage. It was a huge win going into the Florida Amateur Hockey League playoffs next month considering we were still missing one of our better skaters."
Individual and Group Tickets for the Miami Manatees are now on sale. For further information, please contact the Manatees at (305) 536-PUCK (7825) or visit www.miamimanatees.com.
SPHL Stories from January 20, 2004
- Jr. Manatees Win MLK Day Tournament - Miami Manatees
- Seals appearances this week - Florida Seals
- Loggerheads Go 0-for-Miami - Lakeland Loggerheads
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