Tri-County Mite 2 thrills the crowd at Lakeshore

The Mite 2 team included Dylan Bader, Dyer Benjovksy, Monica Benjovsky, Michael Coykendall, Nicky DeFillipo, Riley Emmerson, Devon Grady, Walden Grady, Richie Harmor, Connor Kennard, Christian Lashbrook, Alec Rockow, and AJ Wright.

Tri-County Mite 2 thrills the crowd at Lakeshore

While many were relaxing over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Tri-County Golden Eagles Mite 2 hockey team was participating in the 2005 Coca-Cola Classic Thanksgiving Tournament at Lakeshore Ice Arena. The team played three games over the first two days of the tourament and on Sunday morning, November 27, the Golden Eagles battled to a 1-0 win in the semi-final to advance to the championship that afternoon.

In the championship, Tri-County and a team from Monroe County Youth Hockey played a spirited game. Tri-County's Dylan was first to hit the back of the net in the first period. Monroe County responded in the second period to tie the game 1-1. Tri-County's Walden scored the team's second goal in the first minute of the third period and Monroe County responded with a goal of their own. Tri-County took a 3-2 lead midway through the third period with Walden scoring again. Then, with less than a minute remaining in regulation, Monroe County tied the game 3-3. After a five minute sudden death overtime period, the game moved to a shoot-out. Monroe County's first shooter was stopped by the Tri-County goalie, Riley Emmerson, and anticipation ran high as the first Tri-County shooter scored. The game was finally decided as the fifth shooter from each team tried to break a 1-1 shoot-out tie. After Monroe County scored with the fifth shooter, Tri-County came up short but left the ice with their heads held high after treating the very large crowd, that filled the bleachers and surrounded the rink, to a memorable contest.

The success of the Tri-County Mite 2 team in the tournament and into the championship was a direct result of incredibly stiff defensive play and astonishing goaltending by Emmerson, according to team representatives. This effort accounted for three shutouts leading up to the championship. The forwards took advantage of the defensive play and were able to consistently put the puck in the net. The Tri-County Mite 2 team returned to Brockport with a great sense of team pride and enthusiasm for the game of hockey.