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Rockhoppers Secure Playoff Spot

March 21, 2009 - Eastern Professional Hockey League (EPHL)
Jersey Rockhoppers News Release


Saturday night at the Aviator Arena in Brooklyn, NY, the Jersey Rockhoppers secured the second and final playoff spot with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Brooklyn Aces. Former New York Ranger Ron Duguay was in uniform for the Aces on Saturday night. Duguay played a regular shift for the Aces registering an assist. For the second night in a row, Brooklyn's power play proved to be their biggest asset going 2-for-6 on the night. In the first period, Dan Carney scored his first goal of the season on a pass from Rob Miller to give the Aces an early 1-0 lead. Later in the first, Pat Serpico continued his scoring ways by putting in an unassisted effort to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the second period. Nick Niedert padded his impressive resume for Goaltender of the Year by stopping 15-of-16 Aces shots on goal in an intense second period, his lone miss coming on a Kyle McCullough wrister that made it a 2-1 game.

Knowing that the Mad Hatters had already beaten the Hudson Valley Bears on Saturday night, Jersey knew that they needed to win to clinch a spot in the finals. Serpico moved the team one step closer with his second goal of the night by dancing past goalie Miro Recicar and scoring to tie the game at 2-2. After a Mike Christensen tripping penalty put the 'Hoppers on the power play, Matt Puntureri registered a point for the 13th straight game, taking a Matt Tyree pass and putting it in the net. Jersey took a 3-2 lead into the final minute of regulation, until CJ Tozzo used a screen and a Ron Duguay pass to put a slapshot past Nick Niedert with just 23 seconds remaining in regulation. The overtime period was a back-and-forth battle that kept the capacity crowd on the edge of their seats. With 30 seconds left in the overtime, Puntureri struck again. Skating towards the net from the left hand circle, Matt faked toward the post, pulled the puck back and reached behind Recicar to score the playoff clinching goal.

Duguay will be suiting up for the Rockhoppers tomorrow evening in West Orange, NJ at 5:30pm when they take on the Danbury Mad Hatters at the Essex County Richard J. Codey Arena at South Mountain. For tickets call 973-713-7547 or visit www.JerseyRockhoppers.com.



Eastern Professional Hockey League Stories from March 21, 2009


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