FOXBORO – With two prizes to be offered on the day, the Mass Titans captured the first of the two trophies. They closed out the College Open division at the 2019 Pre-Draft Showcase with a 4-3, overtime, championship victory, toppling Roc City.
After shutting out the North American Bobcats 4-0 in the quarterfinals and defeating Canada West Prospects 3-1 in the semifinals, the Titans found themselves trailing early in the championship contest. Roc City’s Matt Bielinski opening the game’s scoring at 1:06.
The Titans had to comeback in their victory against Canada West – all three of their goals scored in the semis came in the final four minutes – and they did so again against Roc City. Though this time the rally started much earlier.
For much of the contest, the two sides traded blows back and forth. Mike Tersoni that brought the game to a 1-1 tie at 13:06. The Roc City advantage was restored at16:06 by Kristijan Savovic.
Goals by Jack Dempsey at 18:11 and Bryan Decristoforo at 28:11 were the first time in the championship game a team scored back-to-back goals, giving the Titans a 3-2 lead. Yet, as no lead had been to this point in the contest, this one was not safe either. With the netminder pulled, Calaghan Couell came through for Roc with 16-seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.
The game was not to last long into the extra session, the Titans taking control early. Dillon Arno scored 3:37 into overtime to secure the College Open Championship for the Mass Titans, 4-3.
2019 Pre-Draft Showcase College Open All-Tournament Team
Forwards
Joe Noone (Mass Titans), Kristijan Savovic and Kyle Neudorf (Roc City)
Defense
James Jackson (Mass Titans) and John Guay (Roc City)
Goaltender
Joe Sharib (Mass Titans)
Most Valuable Player
Jack Dempsey (Mass Titans)
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