CANTON – A second half comeback bid was made, but it was not enough to thwart Core Hockey as they beat out Hockey Connections (Yellow) 4-3 on Saturday afternoon at the Canton Ice House.
The game’s first half belonged to Jackson Legro and Core Hockey. The defender notched his fourth and fifth goals of the tournament in the game’s opening 25 minutes. The two scores staked Core Hockey a 2-0 advantage that they took into the halftime break and put Jackson atop the list of goals scored by a defensemen in the tournament (tied for third overall) at the game’s conclusion.
Connections was first on the board in the second half with a goal from Jacob Handfast at 2:04, but Core Hockey came right back with a pair of goals of their own to further extend their advantage.
Trailing 4-1, Handfast scored again at 6:40 of the second to get Connections back within striking distance. They inched back within one on a goal by Martin Matatko at 15:05, but the Core Hockey defense held the rest of the way, as did their 4-3 advantage.
Handfast (2G, 1A) and Core Hockey’s Ryan Lieth (1G, 2A) were credited as the game’s leading scorers with three points apiece. Andy Gargiulo was the goalkeeper of record for Core Hockey.
###
