Now the waiting game begins for the Lockport Express, the Roc City Royals, and their fans. With a 3-2 victory over the East Coast Minutemen Sunday afternoon, Lockport moved one point ahead of Roc City into the final playoff spot. All eyes will be on the Syracuse/Roc City game Saturday afternoon at 3pm. A win by Syracuse will eliminate Roc City from the playoffs.
Lockport dominated the shots in the first period, 24-12. Two of those shots made it past Minutemen goaltender, Dom Montecalvo. Blake Bennett opened the scoring for the Express at 5:58 of the first period, with Frankie Bodami and Chace Woods providing assists. Late in the period, with only 23 seconds left, Brandon Schweickert buried one in the net. Bodami earned his second assist of the contest. There was no scoring in the second period.
Pat Swanson got East Coast on the board with a marker at 5:17. Kami Kortelainen assisted. Lockport regained their two-goal lead at 13:37 with a goal by Andrew Logar. Chace Woods and Mitchell Thornton were credited with the assists. Kortelainen closed the gap back to a single goal when he scored with the Minutemen goalie on the bench for the extra attacker. With only 12 seconds left, they were not able to get the equalizer.
Montecalvo stopped 54 of 57 shots faced, while Lockport’s Adam Partridge turned away 40 of 42 shots in the win.
Top 5 Express Scorers 2016-2017 Regular Season:
Andrew Logar 27G, 53A, 80pts
Blake Bennett 36G, 31A, 67pts
Luca Mazzo 14G, 28A, 42pts
Domenic Senese 14G, 22A, 36pts
Brandon Schweickert 15G, 14A, 29pts
Lockport had several players who played their last regular season game for the Express as they age out: John Duffy, Sam Fitzpatrick, Erick Santiago, and Gibson Stuart. Fitzpatrick and Stuart will be attending Niagara University and playing for the club team there. Stuart is the last of the original Express players from the 2014-2015 inaugural season.
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