The Golden Bears’ season came to a close in front of a capacity crowd at the Canton Pavilion on Saturday. The Bears fell to Section II Champion Shenendehowa in the New York State Quarterfinals, 3-1.
Most of the first period passed with no score, as both teams earned high-quality scoring opportunities. Shots were nearly even through most of the period, and the pace of play remained at a high level. While the goal was scored at even-strength, the first tally of the contest was a result of a powerplay setup from Shenendehowa.
Just after the penalty ran off the clock, Plainsmen forward Brayden Williams fired a shot toward the front of the net from the point. The puck found its way through several net-front bodies, and deflected off Bears’ goaltender Gavin Schryver before trickling into the net with less than five minutes to play.
Shenendehowa would take the 1-0 lead into the first intermission despite several quality scoring chances for the Bears, all of them stymied by Plainsmen goaltender Brendan Westrick.
The Bears continued to pressure early in the second period, and were finally rewarded after several scoring opportunities were shut down by Shenendehowa. Finally, forward Robert Palmer pushed the puck across the goal line during a frantic net-front scrum. The second period ended 1-1.
In the third, both teams continued to trade blows in an attempt to find an opening. It was Shenendehowa who was successful in its effort. With about 13 minutes remaining in the game, the Plainsmen forced a turnover on Canton’s blue line. A pair of Plainsmen capitalized on an odd-man rush when forward Gavin Cronin slipped the puck to the net-front for forward Julien Overton, who snuck the puck under Schryver to give Shenendehowa the lead.
Despite a flurry of opportunities for the Bears in a desperate push to tie the game, the score remained 2-1 until Shenendehowa added an insurance goal with just under a minute remaining in the game. The win sends the Plainsmen on to the New York State Final Four this weekend in Buffalo, and ended the season for the Bears.
The Golden Bears finish the season with a 17-4-2 record.
Individually, sophomore defenseman Grady Nee was named Co-MVP of Section X, and he and sophomore forward Owen Logan earned First-Team All-Northern honors.
Photos courtesy of Jay Berkman can be found here.