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A late three goal rally, including an empty net goal, in the third period gave the Lions the edge Friday afternoon at Gold Coast Arena. Despite being outshot 39 17 during the contest the Falcons remained competitive, capitalized on their chances, and kept it a one goal game through almost 40 minutes of play.
The Lions got on the board first with a goal at the 8:01 mark of the first period, giving them an early 1 0 lead. The Falcons followed 22 seconds later to tie the game at 1 with a goal from senior forward Greg Anash. Sophomore forward Alex Van Driesen then gave the Falcons a 2 1 lead one minute later off an excellent pass from senior forward Artie Thompson. Monroe closed out the first period with a 2 1 lead.
The second period saw the Falcons in early penalty trouble, allowing Middletown North to take a 3 2 lead off two back-to-back power play goals. With timely goaltending help from sophomore Justin Pieron, the Falcons were able to erase the deficit with Greg Anashs second goal of the game before the Lions tallied another goal to head into the intermission with a 4 3 lead.
The start of the third period began with the Falcons on a 5-on-3 power play advantage that they capitalized on with a goal from Greg Anash to tie the game at four aside. After a tightly battled first half of the third period, the Lions broke loose with 3 goals in a span of just over a minute to put the Falcons in a battle against the clock. Senior forward Ryan Kloby quickly closed the gap, giving the Falcons some hope, with a goal to make it 7 5 with just over 5 minutes remaining. An empty net goal by the Lions with 2 minutes remaining put them back ahead by three and ended any comeback hopes for the Falcons. The Lions would add another goal with 0:12 remaining to give a final score of 9 5 in favor of the Lions.
Sophomore goaltender Justin Pieron made 31 saves in the loss.
The Falcons current record is 1 2 1. Their next game is this Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. at Winding River Skating Center versus Toms River North.
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