DETERMINED EFFORT LIFTS DC ABOVE WHITMAN

Whitman Takes an Early Lead

Walt Whitman hosted the DC Stars at Cabin John ice arena on Friday night in what turned out to be a scoring slugfest. Several Stars alumni were on hand to see their former team stand tall over their feisty rivals. Whitman’s points leader this season, Steve Mah, opened the scoring in the first period. He then underpinned his talent with a second goal early in the second period.

DC Keeps it Close in the Middle Period

Despite the early set-back, the DC Stars skaters kept their composure. Making the most of a power play opportunity, defenseman Jonathan Lust pulled the Stars back within one. Whitman added another goal, but DC Star young gun, Oliver York, found the back of the net to keep the score close. After another goal by each team, the second period ended with Whitman leading four to three.

Fast and Furious in the Final Fifteen

As the final period began, both teams came out punching and counter punching. Stars’ goal tender, Gabe Sokol absorbed blow after blow, knocking down everything that came his way. After ten minutes of back-and-forth action with no goal, Jonathan Lust handled a slick pass from DC captain Walter Bernstein. Lust slung the puck it into the Whitman net for his second power play goal of the night. The game did not stay tied for long. Whitman finally broke through DC’s defense to notch their fifth goal of the night.

A Gutsy Call

As the clock ticked down to the final minutes of play, Coach Creek pulled Sokol out of the net to give the boys in red an extra attacker. According to NHL statistics, pulling the goalie results in a goal in the empty net nearly half of the time. But, fifteen percent of the time, the team pulling the goalie scores.

With less than two minutes to go, the Stars scooped up loose puck and skated it into the offensive zone. Ian Cox and Callum Cochran moved toward the crease. The chaos they caused pulled back Whitman's defense which left Bernstein open at the point. Jonathan Lust found Bernstein’s stick. The captain saw his lane, flicked his wrist and sailed the puck past Whitman’s goalie. The game was tied again and fans from both sides settled expected the contest to be settled in overtime.

But bolstered by the comeback, DC kept on the pressure. At ten seconds to go, Bernstein broke free from Whitman’s defense. As the game clock ticked down to eight, the DC captain froze the Whitman goalie with a filthy move and lifted the puck under the blocker for the game winning goal. A few seconds later Gabe Schon added an exclamation point to the score when he scooped up a loose puck and quickly found the back of the net in the final second of the game.

Scoring

a hat trick and an assist, Walter Bernstein earned the first star of the game from the coaches. Jonathan Lust earned the second star by channeling his inner Jakob Chychrun. Assistant captain Sam Benskey gets the third star for his tenacity on defense.