Skidmore Box
Salve Box
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College ice hockey team is on its way to the championship game of the Skidmore College Thanksgiving Invitational after a 5-2 victory over Post University, held at the Saratoga City Rink Saturday afternoon.
 
Skidmore (4-2-1) will face the winner of No. 6/9 Salve Regina in the championship game at 4 p.m. Sunday. Post (2-5) will play Bryn Athyn in the consolation game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.Salve won its semifinal 4-1 over Bryn Athyn.
 
Brandon Borges and Corey Morgan each tallied a goal and added an assist to lead the Thoroughbreds. Owen Campbell, Adam Moodie, and Callahan Johnson also scored. Avery Steele led the team with two assists, with Matt Wolf, Tim Allen, John Litscher, Matt Muzyka, Paul Vella, and Misha Mrotchek providing one assist each.
 
Kyle Weiss and Evan Lugo provided the goals for the Eagles.
 
The Thoroughbreds came out firing shots over the first 10 minutes with an 11-3 advantage, but Post goaltender Brandon Brown came up with a few solid saves to keep the Thoroughbreds off the board.
 
Post answered on the other end, getting on the board at with 8:39 to go in the period, on just its fourth shot of the game. Anthony Giacomin got into open ice, firing a long shot from just inside the blue line. His shot got under the glove of Skidmore goalie Brandon Kasel and into net.
 
Allen nearly tied the game at the seven-minute mark, as his shot from the right circle got under Brown, but trickled wide of the net. The Thoroughbreds outshot the Eagles by a 20-5 margin, but trailed 1-0 after one period.
 
Skidmore tied things up in the second period on a deft move by Borges at 4:51. Off a Morgan pass on a 4-on-4 opportunity, Borges faked the pass to shake off the Post defender, then made a move in front of net and pushed a soft shot past Brown. Allen also tallied the assist on the goal.
 
Skidmore would double up at the 7:48 mark. Off a Litscher shot, Mrotchek fed Johnson on the rebound, and he pushed it past Brown for his first collegiate goal. Post quickly regrouped and tied the game on a 2-on-1 breakaway just 1:26 later. Noah Wild fed Kyle Weiss, who beat Kasel with a high shot stick side.
 
Borges nearly tallied his second of the game for Skidmore at the 13:24 mark. A pass by Kyle DelMaestro found Borges in front of net against Brown, but his shot was stopped by the goalie. A few minutes later on the Thoroughbreds' fifth power-play opportunity of the game, Campbell took a shot from the point that hit the pipe. A fortuitous bounce gave Skidmore the puck back and Muzyka found Campbell at the same spot a few seconds later. This time, Campbell would get the puck past Brown on a high shot at the 16:38 mark. Borges got the second assist on the shot as Skidmore held a 3-2 lead.
 
Post nearly tied the game at three with just over a minute to go in the period. A turnover deep in the Skidmore end gave Tyler Hackett a 1-on-1 opportunity with Kasel. Kasel stood tall, reaching out for the glove save to end the threat. Like the first period, the Thoroughbreds would pound the net, outshooting the Eagles by a 20-8 margin, but this time, they entered the third with a 3-2 lead.
 
The goal barrage continued for Skidmore in the third period. The Thoroughbreds took a 4-2 lead at the 14:22 mark on a power-play opportunity. Morgan took a feed from Wolf and Steele at the doorstep, beating Brown and a scrum of Post defenders to the net. 1:13 later, Adam Moodie got on the board with his third goal of the season. Steele and Vella assisted on the effort as the Thoroughbreds held a commanding 5-2 lead. Post would get a power-play opportunity late, but the Thoroughbred defense held the Eagles off the board, earning the victory.
 
Skidmore finished with a season-high 51 shots on goal, holding a 51-22 shot advantage. Kasel finished with 20 saves in the victory, while Brown finished with 46 saves. Skidmore also went a healthy 2-of-6 on the power play.

In the other semifinal,#6/9 Salve Regina (5-1-1) scored three second period goals on the way to a 4-1 win over Bryn Athyn (2-6). All-American goalie Blake Wojtala registered 31 saves for the win. Eric Lipa had a goal and two assists, while Danny Eruzione had a goal and an assist for the Seahawks. Brian Lange scored his first goal of the season for Bryn Athyn.