97 NY AC SQUIRTS IN THE MIDST OF A VERY SUCCESSFUL SEASON

              No one knew what to expect when the 97 Applecore team was selected.  A .500 season or perhaps a little better seemed within grasp but this group of young players have far exceeded everyone's expectations.

             Following a couple of summer practices and off -ice workouts, the 97 AC team traveled to Oaks, Pennsylvania for the Summer Hockey Festival.  The 97 AC team is a mixture of players from different organizations who competed at the Tier I, II and III levels in prior seasons.  The coaching staff felt an early tournament would help them evaluate the team's strengths and weaknesses and more importantly, provide the players with an opportunity to get to know each other. 

            The tournament turned out to be a great success.  A trip to Citizenbank Park to see the Phillies play the Pirates coupled with a five game sweep of the tournament, raised expectations for the upcoming season.  The team has not disappointed. 

            The exhibition season opened with a one goal loss to the league leading Long Island Rebels followed by three consecutive exhibition wins against the Arrows, Greater New York and the Long Island Rebels, avenging the first loss. 

            The league's schedule opened on September 30^th with a convincing victory against Suffolk PAL.

             The next league opponent saw the Applecore 97 team break a 1-1 tie in the third period to beat Brewster 4-1. 

             On October 24^th, the 97 AC traveled to Brooklyn to face Greater New York.  That game remained tied for two periods until the AC finally penetrated the Greater New York defense notching a 7-4 victory.

             On October 27^th, Applecore faced the Long Island Rebels in a league game.  Core surrendered two early goals which proved to be a deficit Core could not make up.  Core rallied to tie the game at 2 but a late second period goal by the Rebels proved to be the game winner.

             The following day, the Core traveled to Freeport to face the Arrow's. In another tight match, Freeport took a 1-0 lead into the third period.  Applecore rallied and scored two goals to pull ahead 2-1.  The Arrow's, with 16 seconds remaining, were able to score the tying goal resulting in a 2-2 tie.   

            On November 3^rd and November 10^th, Applecore faced the Green Machine Ice Cats in a home and home series with Applecore coming out on top in both games.  The Green Machine Ice Cats (all minors) fought hard and gave Applecore all it could handle.

             On November 11^th, Applecore played the league leading Long Island Edge in a league game.  Core stormed out to a two goal lead which disappeared due to some untimely penalties.  The Edge pulled ahead 4-3 late in the third period but Core refused to quit.  With 18 seconds left, T.J. Paisley netted one for Core giving them a 4-4 tie. 

            On November 17^th, Applecore traveled to Hauppauge to face the Blue Nights in another league match up.  Core came away with a 10-2 victory. 

            November 18^th, found the Core in Staten Island facing the Rangers.  At the end of two periods, Core was losing 3-2.  An early third period goal by Captain, T.J. Paisley knotted the game at 3 and co-captain, Taylor Traenkle netted his second and third goals of the game getting AC the victory. 

THINGS HAPPEN FOR A REASON

             At Thanksgiving, Core was supposed to travel to Bridgewater for a AA tournament.  A last minute cancellation of the Squirt Division left the Core with no alternative but to enter a AAA tournament in Marlboro, MA.  While the Core only won one of their five games against AAA opponents, each was very close and well played.  It was exactly what the Core needed to prepare for what was coming.

 SILVER STICK REGIONAL

             On December 7^th - 9^th, Applecore traveled to Rome, New York for the Silver Sticks Squirt B Regionals.  The Rome, New York regionals are typically attended by the best Tier II programs in New York and this year was no exception.  Participating in the tournament were the Western, New York powerhouses, Niagara Junior Purple Eagles and the Cheektowaga Warriors.  Also participating were the host Rome Grizzlies and Central New York powerhouse, New Hartford.

             The opening game pitted Core against New Hartford.  "Car legs" from a six hour ride led to a slow start by Core.  However, brilliant goaltending by Johnny Persichilli kept the Core in the game.  "Perch" turned away 28 of 30 New Hartford shots inspiring his teammates to convert three of eight opportunities and skate away with a 3-2 victory.

             The next morning, Applecore faced the host, Rome Grizzlies.  This game saw the other half of the outstanding Core goaltending tandem, Mark Pittinsky, demonstrate his talents.

             A defensive mistake eight seconds into the game allowed Rome to take an early 1-0 lead.  However, from this point on, Pittinsky and the Core defense shut Rome down and forward, T.J. Paisley and Taylor Traenkle put on a skating exhibition leading Core to a 4-1 victory.

             Core opened its scoring when Traenkle converted a Paisley rebound tying the score at 1-1.  At this moment, the entire momentum turned with Core dominating the remainder of the game.

             Midway through the second period, Michael Callahan buried a rebound putting Applecore up 2-1.  Third period goals by Traenkle and Paisley sealed the victory for Core.

             Beyond everyone's expectations, Applecore found themselves in the Championship game Sunday afternoon against New Hartford who beat the tournament favorites, Niagara Junior Purple Eagles in an exciting 3-2 overtime victory the day before. 

            The local press, which covered the game, made the particular note of the "Core values" that have been instilled in the 97 team. 

            Now Hartford jumped out to an early 1-0 lead just 1:09 into the first period.  However, the Applecore defense pulled together and shut down the high flying New Hartford line of Morreale, Blocher and Nimey.  Morreale, New Hartford's offensive leader, was shut down by defensive specialists, Brian Murray, Chris Altomare and Andrew Greene.  These forwards stuck to their defensive assignments like "white on rice" and shut down New Hartford's top line for the remainder of the game. 

             Core was able to turn up the heat on New Hartford a minute and a half later when T.J. Paisley buried a pass from Taylor Traenkle knot the game at one.

             With 4:08 left in the second period, Traenkle beat the New Hartford goalie top shelf, giving the Core a 2-1 lead.  This lead lasted until 2:23 left in the game when New Hartford tied it.  However, just six seconds later, Traenkle with assists from Paisley and Brian Whelan scored the game winner.  T.J. Paisley added an open net goal with 1:19 left. 

            Writing for the Rome Herald, Fred Miller noted:

 While spending the last two days watching the newly crowned Champs play, I got the sense that the values instilled, the Core values, that are drilled into this young team by coaches, Pat Cooney and Doug Traenkle, have a lot to do with the defense and the fact that their defensemen seem to set up their high powered offense.

 Miller added:
 

"Core values", we hear these words bandied about in corporate and political circles and rarely do they apply to a youth hockey game.  To day, while watching the Silver Stick Hockey Tournament Regional Squirt Finals, the two words just seemed to go together like a puck and stick.

             The 97 AC team will be traveling to Sarnia, Ontario the weekend of January 18^th, 19^th, 20^th and 21^st to compete for the International Silver Stick title.

             Riding high off it success in Rome, the 97 AC team returned to league play with a 6-3 victory over Mamaroneck, a come from behind 4-4 tie with the Long Island Rebels and a convincing 7-1 victory over the Nassau County Lions.  Core sits in fourth place in the Long Island Hockey League (with a couple of games in-hand) just a couple of points behind the league leading Long Island Rebels.  The top five teams in this division are so evenly matched that each point can mean the difference between first, second, third or fourth place. 

            Over the Christmas/New Year's break, Applecore "traveled" to Hackensack, New Jersey for the annual New Year's Classic.  This year's tournament found the Core competing against league rival, Brewster Bull Dogs and Long Island Edge, as well as the host, New Jersey Avalanche and the surprising Clarkstown Capitals.

            Core fell in their opening game 5-3 to the Brewster Bull Dogs surrendering a two goal lead in third period.

However, Core bounced back in its second game of the day against the Clarkstown Capitals in a hard fought 5-3 victory.

             That victory was enough to secure Applecore a crossover game.  The crossover game saw Applecore face Brewster for a second time in this tournament.  Applecore jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and held on to beat a relentless Brewster team 4-3. 

            The Championship matched Applecore against the Clarkstown Capitals.  Earlier that day, Clarkstown pulled off an upset defeating the Long Island Edge 2-1.

             Applecore struck first jumping out to 1-0 lead.  Clarkstown soon tallied their first goal tying the game at 1.  The game would remain tied 1-1 for the balance of the first period, the second period, third period and a four on four overtime leading to a shoot out to decide the championship.  The first two Clarkstown shooters were turned away by Johnny "Perch" with two outstanding saves.   

            The first Applecore shooter, Ricky Boudreau, moved the Capital goaltender side to side but just missed converting.  However, Traenkle, J.P. Kilkullen and Sam Soifer were "schooled" by Boudreau's effort, each converting their opportunity and sealing the victory for Core.

             While instilling the "Core values", the 97 AC team has learned that success is not a destination, but rather, a journey.  This team's journey is not nearly over.  It looks forward to participating in the International Silver Sticks over the Martin Luther King weekend, the LIAHL playoffs and hopefully, the State Championships.

             Stay tuned.