By Joe Soccoa
NEW YORK – In one of the final weekend series the New York Aviators split with the Jersey Shore Wildcats. It began Friday with a 5-4 loss in a shootout. In a seesaw game that had the one and two teams in their respective division certain had the feel of a playoff-type game. The Wildcats opened the scoring first and led 1-0 after one period.
The Aviators came out strong in period two and scored two unasnered goals to take a 2-1 on goals from Shawn Eastmen and Daniel Backstrom. Jimmy Warrick added to the 3 goal second period to give the Aviators the 3-2 lead going into the second intermission. The Aviators at 12:01 of period three were able to extend their lead to 4-2 on a goal by Dominic Sacco.
The Wildcats, however, would not go quietly into the night as they tacked on two goals to even the score at 4-4. The overtime went by and both teams remained tied. It only took one shooter in the shootout to decide the outcome and it was John Rubin who secured the victory 5-4. Stephan Mundinger made 56 saves while facing 60 shots but it wasn’t enough.
Saturday night saw a much different tune for the Aviators and they were able to beat the Wildcats 4-2. Dominic Sacco got the scoring stared nearly three minutes in. The Wildcats were able to tie at the 13:00 mark only to be trailing once more just a minute and a half later when Philip Garcia lit the lamp for the Aviators. The Aviators were able to shut down Jersey Shore’s special teams, as they were 5 for 5 on the penalty kill in the game. Martin Grinberg in the beginning of the period and Daniel Backstrom at the end were able to seal the deal for the victory. Stephen Mundinger picked up the victory by stopping 37 of 39 shots, while top players Backstrom, Warrick and Sacco all finished with 2 points each.
The Aviators will wrap up the regular season this coming Saturday March 5 when the have a home and home against the Skylands with Saturday’s game in Brooklyn then in Jersey the following day.
