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Cunningham Scores Back to Back in Overtime Win

Junior midfielder Jordan Cunningham scored back to back goals to end regulation and secure the win in overtime for Gananda.  The Blue Panthers defeated East Rochester 6-5.  The story was really a game of streaks.  Gananda came out of the gate and scored four quick unanswered goals. East Rochester then took control of the pace of the game and scored five goals of their own to take their first lead with 3:23 remaining in regulation before Cunningham scored her goals.

The game began with quick scoring for Gananda.  Cunningham scored the first of her 3g-1a with a feed from Jenna Ginsberg at the top of the crease.  0:12 later Allison Stark fed Melissa Camp in nearly the same position on the crease.  Ginsberg got her second assist of the night to Stark with another inside feed.  The final Gananda goal came with a cross-crease pass after the defense slid from Cunningham to Camp.  The Blue Panthers led 4-0 with 13:54 remaining in the first quarter.  East Rochester scored their only goal of the half with a drive to the cage from Allison Burns.  

In the second half, East Rochester kept up their pressure.  They scored their first goal 1:00 into the quarter with an 8 meter shot from Madilynn Walsh.  Just over a minute later another 8 meter shot from Maddilyn Mulcahy brought the game within one.  Walsh tied the game at 4-4 with a straight drive down the middle of the field and forced a Gananda time out.  The next 13 minutes were almost all East Rochester.  They repeated drove to cage, lost the ball (either on a save or missed shot) and Gananda failed to clear the ball.  The Blue Panthers failed five successive clears in a row over a 13 minute period.  Overall from approximately 11:00 remaining in the first half to 6:00 remaining in the second half (nearly 30 minutes) the Blue Panthers had the ball on offense for less than 2 minutes.

With 3:23 remaining, Christine Touranjoe scored on a fast-break goal with an assist from Emily Louth.  The Bomber's sole lead of the game only lasted 0:59 before Cunningham tied the game.  She scored on a drive from behind the left side of the cage and beat three defenseman on her way to the goal.  Both teams had attempts at the cage in the last two minutes but neither were successful.

In the first overtime period, both teams had shots on cage and both goalies came up with saves to keep their teams in the game.  Frankie Puglisi finished at 60% with 9 saves for East Rochester.  Julie Hoyser finished at 58% with 7 saves for Gananda.  Three of the seven saves were on 8 meter free position shots.  In the second overtime period, Gananda won the draw and had the first shot at the goal.  Cunningham scored unassisted with another drive from the goalie's left side.

In addition to the strong defensive play from Puglisi, sophomore defensive player Shannon Belt from East Rochester had an impressive game for the Bombers.  She had a number of interceptions and strong defensive plays to keep the Bombers in the game.


Ha1
   on 11-25-2024
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