BY RANDY SCHULTZ –
Sean Kross was named Tournament MVP as the Erie Community College Kats defeated St. Bonaventure, 7-5 to win the UNYCHL championship last Sunday at the Rochester Ice Arena.
But before the Kats won that championship, they had a road filled with several tough contests to win. That road began with a 6-4 victory over Fredonia to send the Kats to the UNYCHL Final Four.
A hat trick from Kross (Lancaster, NY) lead the way for the Kats, while goaltender Hadley Heath (Orchard Park, NY) recorded 41 saves in the win. Tim Pellittieri (Alden, NY) added a goal and an assist for the Kats.
Also scoring against Fredonia were John Mueller (Alden, NY) and Michal Swacha (Cheektowaga, NY).
The Kats followed up the win with a tie to Canisius 9-9. Pellittieri would lead the Kats with 4 goals in the tie.
The Kats next game was the UNYCHL Final Four against Union on February 23rd in Albany. ECC scored another nine goals, only giving up two in a lopsided 9-2 victory.
Brett Sardina (Getzville, NY) recorded the hat trick to lead the way for the Kats. Kross fell one short, scoring just two goals while additional goals came from Cameron Mentel (West Seneca, NY), Mueller, Sean Degnan (Kenmore, NY) and Matt Ess (Alden, NY).
From there the Kats took on St. Bonaventure with ECC coming away with a 7-5 victory. Kross and David Christopher (Tonawanda, NY) led the way for ECC with two goals each with the additional tallies coming from Sardina, Degnan and Pellittieri.
The Kats are now 21-3-1 and will play RPI in the ACHA Northeast Regional Saturday night in Albany.
