Posted on January 22, 2019 at 5:00 PM by
SiteAdmin
The LI Rebels Bantam AA team stunned the Greater Toronto Capitals in dramatic fashion this past weekend, January 19-21, 2019 to take home the Empire Cup Championship in Rochester, New York.
Down 3-1 with just 1:22 left in the finals, the Rebels got goals from Colin Beisel and Nick Bottoni just 11 seconds apart to send the game into OT. Another quick strike, as this time Jake Abrami found Brett LoGelfo just 15 seconds into the extra period to give the Rebels the stunning, come from behind win. Bottoni paced the Rebels with three points (2G, 1A) in the final. Matt McCarthy won his fourth consecutive playoff OT game of the season in goal.
There was no lack of drama all weekend, as each game came down to the wire. The Rebels needed a shootout to defeat the Los Angeles Jr. Kings in the semifinals, with Blake Hansen, Joe Lucente, Beisel and LoGelfo all scoring in the shootout.
In pool play, the Rebels started with a 2-0 win over Toronto. Jake Stella scored both goals and McCarthy posted a shutout in the win. The Rebels followed that up with a 2-1 win over Tomorrow's Ice (Md.) as Justin Young scored the game-winner in the third period. Max Gershowitz closed the door with a sprawling last-minute save to seal the win for the Rebels. The final pool game saw LoGelfo scoring two goals, including one with .07 seconds left as the Rebels secured the first seed in the playoffs with a tie against the Periton Blades.
