High School Ice Hockey:
Township Survives As Cinnaminson Proves It Belongs

Friday, February 18, 2000

By Mike Costantino
SJSports Staff Writer

Cinnaminson, led by the outstanding play of goalie Scott Gideon, gave unbeaten Washington Township all it could handle and then some. Township needed two goals in the third period to defeat Cinnaminson 4-2 in the first game of the best of three in the SJHSIHL semi-finals. Bill Verdecchio gave Township the 1-0 lead as he rebounded a point shot by Chris Harrington with just over five minutes left in the first period.

Cinnaminson had just only two scoring chances. The first came with two minutes remaining in the period, as Pat Sanford broke in all-alone but was beaten by Derek Lucas. Then with fifty-five seconds left, Tom Wood broke in and beat Lucas to tie the game at 1-1. Despite being out-shot 19-4, Cinnaminson went into the second period even on the scoreboard. Now starting to realize that they belonged, Cinnaminson took the lead at 2-1 early on as Tony Mottola picked off a poor clearing pass by Township. It took about seven minutes before Township tied the game at 2-2. Joe Gori converted on the power play after rebounding a Derek Poletis shot. Even though the shots were 33-8 after two periods, where it counted it was 2-2.

Finally, with about ten minutes remaining in the game, Poletis after several tries jammed home a power play goal to give Township a 3-2 lead. Cinnaminson was only able to generate three shots in the final period and had to find ways to take advantage of any opportunity, as they squandered a two-man advantage for sixty-eight seconds. Gori scored his second power play goal in the final ninety seconds to seal the game at 4-2. Game 2 is Monday night at the SkateZone. If Gideon continues his heroics and Cinnaminson could generate some offense, Township could be in for a long night.

Photos by Art Redd