Led by all-star goalie Joey Diamond, the HANC Hurricanes pushed their perfect season to the finals, by defeating the upstart Flatbush Falcons 4-1 on Thursday night (2/21), at the Hurricanes Center.
Coming into this semifinal matchup, Flatbush was riding the Cinderella wave that got them here after stunning HAFTR 4-3 in Overtime at the Hawks nest in round 1. But waiting for them, was an undefeated HANC Hurricanes team led by goalie Joey Diamond, and top scorers Eliyahu Yitzhaki, and Moshe Grossman.
As for Flatbush, they came into this game being led by all-star goalie Morris Hanon, top scorer Joe D Gindi, and top defensemen Marc Salamie.
The game started, and HANC came out firing applying pressure early and showing why they were the number 1 seed. However, Flatbush was doing a great job of hanging in there, (as Mo Han stepped up and made some great saves), until late in the period, where they took two penalties, giving the Hurricanes opportunity’s to score.
HANC would capitalize, on the second one, when Daniel Grossman fired one home past Hanon, to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead. Moments later, HANC scored again, as Grossman curved one into the net to give the Canes a 2-0 lead after 12 minutes of play.
In the second, HANC once again started strong, as Yitzhaki made his presence felt, by stuffing one home to give the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead. After that, Flatbush woke up and started putting some pressure on HANC, but Dimond was up to the task , stopping everything coming his way. Unfortunately for the Falcons, they wouldn’t be able to sustain that pressure for long, as the Hurricanes found paydirt again when Isaac Schmit, sent one home to give HANC a 4-0 lead after 2, and Flatbush needing a miraculous third period to keep their season alive.
In the 3rd, Flatbush did indeed come out firing , but weren’t able to get one past Dimond, as he was up to the task, while HANC continued to run out the time, and did a great job of using the big gym to their advantage.
As for Morris, he was outstanding doing all he can to keep his team in this game, with some outstanding saves!
Flatbush would finally get one past Joey, when Marc Salamie roofed one past the big goaltender, to get Flatbush on the board, and cut the HANC lead to 4-1.
But that was all she wrote for the Falcons, as the Hurricanes defense shut down any hopes of a miraculous Flatbush comeback, as HANC pushed their perfect season, to the finals where they will face HALB/Barkai, with a 4-1 win!
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