Tzvika Poleyeff, Sports Writer
On Thursday night the Cardinals (1-1, 2 points) and the Cowboys (1-1, 2 points) battled in what looked like was going to be a classic from the start. Throughout the first period the Cardinals dominated, getting shot after shot while barely giving up any, led by offensemen Odi Haramati (7th grade Yavneh) and Rafi Selevan (7th grade Yavneh) and the defense of Eli Best (6th grade Moriah) and Barak Shachnovitz (8th grade Hillel). They had countless chances for a lead, but the play of Cowboys goalie Solomon Rapoport (7th grade Moriah), aided by the post, kept the game scoreless. With two minutes remaining in the first period, the Cowboys struck first. Yehoshua Lerer (7th grade RYNJ) passed one out of the zone to Zev Markowitz (7th grade Yavneh), who, with no one near him, dove and shot the ball past Cardinals goalie Alex Kershenbaum (7th grade Moriah).
The second period was more evenly played. Each team matched each other shot for shot. After a back and forth period, with one minute left, Sam Schwalbe (7th grade Moriah) brought it up and beat Kershenbaum five-hole to take a 2-0 Cowboys lead. The buzzer sounded signaling the end of the second period, and the Cowboys had a commanding 2-0 lead.
Heading into the third period down by two, the Cardinals players knew that they were going to have to step it up in order to have a shot at a comeback. Step it up is exactly what they did. Only a minute and a half into the period, Haramati took a close shot that Rapoport saved but he gave up a juicy rebound that Daniel Best (7th grade Moriah) put home to bring the Cardinals within one. Then, a mere two and a half minutes later, with the Cowboys on the Powerplay, Haramati found a way to beat Rapoport shorthanded to tie the game at two apiece. After some more back and forth by both teams, Max Milstein (8th grade Moriah) drew a penalty to put the Cardinals on the Powerplay. Shortly after the penalty began, Selevan made a beautiful cross court pass to Haramati who finished it to put the Cardinals ahead 3-2, a lead they would never relinquish. With some more stellar play by Kershenbaum, and his defensemen, Aaron Kahane (6th grade Moriah) and Aryeh Berman (7th grade Yavneh), and a great job by Max Gruber (7th grade Yavneh) creating offensive chances, the Cardinals were able to stave off the Cowboys.
The Cowboys dropped to 1-1 and to fifth place with the loss. The Cardinals, on the other hand, went to 1-1 and jumped into fourth place because of their head to head win against the Cowboys.
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