RFA - Caz. Game Is Set

The Section III, Division II East regular season came down to three big games and all three were decided by one goal.

And now, in the East, there is one game left. An extra game! RFA and Cazenovia will play a one game battle to determine the fourth and final playoff spot in the East. That game will be played Tuesday night, 7:30PM at Kennedy Arena in Rome. Both the Lakers and the Black Knights finished the regular season with 15 points. They split their regular season meetings with each team posting road wins…Cazenovia winning 4-3 in Rome and RFA winning 6-0 at Morrisville.

Right now, we know the top three in the East and they are…in order; Clinton, New Hartford, Whitesboro and the survivor of the RFA – Cazenovia clash.

Clinton had the top spot locked and traveled to New Hartford for bragging rights in their great rivalry with the Spartans on Saturday night. Minus their senior, blue line leader Jon Furgal, New Hartford got goals from the young guns…Mike Zalewski and Jake Silberlicht and beat Clinton 2-1. It was a wild game. The Spartans style is more freewheeling athleticism and the Warriors play more the old school hit ‘em hard hockey. But, in a battle of the body, New Hartford stepped up. It sets a great tone for the post season.

So, everybody asks…what happened on Sunday? Cazenovia edged New Hartford 1-0 in a critical game for the Lakers. Whitesboro opened the door for Cazenovia with their Saturday afternoon win over RFA. That prevented the Knights from printing playoff tickets. So, what happened? Who can say what is really in the heads of hockey players at a given moment…but, let’s speculate! New Hartford had nothing to win in this one, making Cazenovia the more hungry team in that one. Still, it came down to the last 2:30 before Caz. got the powerplay goal.

Division II East is fairly settled compared to the West, where three teams are tied for first and Ontario Bay still has a shot to tie for the fourth spot if they beat Corcoran this afternoon.

Tonight, the picture will get much clearer when the seeding meeting takes place. I’ll be there and will blog you the whole story as it happens…TUNE IN!