CANTON – Top Prospects (Blue) and Little Rhody Hockey Club were slated to play on Saturday evening in the final preliminary round game of the 2018 Pre-Draft Showcase scheduled at the Canton Ice House. Both teams were in search of their first win of the tournament.
That honor went to Top Prospects, who more than doubled their offensive output from their first two games of the tournament in this one contest to post an 11-5 victory over Little Rhody.
There was some time before the offensive onslaught began, as nearly 10 minutes passed before Robert Doorley started a four-goal run for Top Prospects with his mark at 9:16.
Trailing 4-0, Rhody stemmed the barrage by breaking into the scoring column on a Simon Delden goal at 21:46. The margin, however, was back to four by the half’s end. DJ Layden making it 5-1 at 22:36
Top Prospects added one more early in the second before Little Rhody went on a scoring run of their own to make things interesting. They tallied three straight to close the gap to a manageable two at 6-4. The final of their string coming from Nick Perella at 13:17.
Despite the scoring swing, there was still plenty to come from Top Prospects throughout the game’s remaining minutes. Five more scores to be had for the victors to their foe’s one, resulting in the 11-5 final.
In total, 13 different skaters were credited with points for Top Prospects, led by a goal and game-high four assists from J.R. Cagnassola. Doorley (1G, 1A), Tim Royse and JP Nolan (1G, 2A each) also were credited with multiple points for Top Prospects. Alex Demin had a goal and an assist to lead the Little Rhody attack.
All of the combined 16 goals in the contest were credited to different skaters.
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