SOMERS POINT THUNDER RUMBLES INTO NSHA NATIONALS

 Somers Point Street Hockey sent 2 teams out to the NSHA Tournament in EHT. The Thunder was comprised of mostly 16 and 17 yr. olds. In their 1st match up they played EHT Blue (A) on Thursday night. Both teams started off slowly with each team trading goals for a 1-1 tie after 1 period. The Thunder goal was recorded by Zack Freeman, a cadet all star playing up for this tournament.  

The second period started out with the Thunder playing stellar defense and thwarting any and all of the A team from EHT chances. With minutes gone in the second period Brendon Pancoast chased down a loose ball in the corner a fed a breaking defenseman in George Carros for the 2nd Thunder goal and the lead. Carros picked the high, glove side of the net to deposit the tally. After taking the 2-1 lead the Thunder were gradually overtaken by the older players from EHT and Bellmawr to forge to a 4-2 lead at periods end.

The 3rd period saw EHT get into the gear they were looking for as they took control of the game and ended with a 6-2 victory. The 2 goals given up by EHT would later prove costly. 

The Thunder's next opponent was EHT White (B). This was a team that the Thunder were looking to beat as the White team was mostly younger players just like the Thunder. The first period saw EHT White get tagged for 4 penalties while the Thunder were only penalized once. Taking advantage of 2 of those penalties Artie Elwell scored 2 power play goals to give the Thunder a 2-0 lead heading to the 2nd. 

Although the 2nd period was a scoreless dual, the refs started to even up the infractions by sending the Thunder to the sin bin 4 times as opposed to 2 times for the home squad. Heading into the 3rd period Somers Point still held a 2-0 lead. 

It only took 2:32 seconds into the 3rd period for EHT to strike paydirt as they cut the lead in half with a goal for the circle to the right of goalie Pat Johns. EHT intensified it's attack on the young Thunder team but defensemen John O'Zemko, Tom Karver,  Steve Hoffman, and George Carros held them off until 1:23 left when EHT called a time out. During the time out EHT decided to pull the goalie when play resumed. Aided by a suspicious call as soon as the teams stepped back on the court against Somers Point the Thunder found themselves in a 4 on 6 situation. They did not cave in as they battled EHT and even got an empty netter, short handed goal off the stick of Tom Karver. The final score was 3-1 and put the Thunder in 5th place and in line for a 10 pm match up against the team from GTHA.

The 1/4 final game featured the Thunder playing the team from Gloucester, who like EHT, picked up 4 players from Bellmawr. The game was never a contest as the Gloucester team took it to the tired Thunder 8-0, thereby squashing the dreams of playing on Sunday for the Somers Point