Manns scores in fourth overtime as Lancaster moves on

AMHERST - Clarence High School had the better opportunities, but, in the end, the Lancaster Redskins made the most of one opportunity.

Manny Manns scored with just nine seconds left in the fourth overtime to give the Lancaster redskins a thrilling 2-1 victory over Clarence, in Western New York Varsity Hockey Federation quarterfinal action at the Northtowns Center in Amherst.

“From all the times we faced off with Clarence this year they have all been tight games,” stated Lancaster coach Kevin Miller. “I give Clarence a lot of credit. I thought their players played very well, and their goaltender played very well.”

In a back and forth contest, it was the Red Devils that had the better play early on. The first period belonged to Clarence, but they just couldn’t get the puck past Justin Dichristopher.

The Red Devils had a golden opportunity to get on the scoreboard first; however the Redskins were able to kill off a 5-on-3 at the end of the first period.

“One thing we tried to say to the boys is that we didn’t want to make mistakes in our own end,” explained Miller. “At times when they had the pressure on they certainly had the momentum.”

Clarence thought they had finally broken the deadlock early in the third period, but the shot by Matt Colicchia went off the post, 2:12 in.

Colicchia and the Red Devils would finally break the scoreless draw just over four minutes into the third period when he intercepted a pass at his own blueline. He then skated in all alone on Dichristopher and fired a soft shot that got through the goaltender. The goal was a shorthanded tally and it seemed to give them all the momentum.

However, the Redskins would gain the momentum back four minutes later when Colicchia took a penalty for tripping.

With Colicchia in the box, the Redskins went to work on the power play and they made the Red Devils pay as the shot by defenseman George Scouras was deflected by Adam Oetinger and past goaltender Nate Martina.

It was an up and down night for the Lancaster special teams.

“I think we had more chances on the power play, we just didn’t capitalize on them,” said Miller. “We certainly persevered on the penalty kill.”

The game remained tied heading into overtime and both teams had their chances, but both goaltenders came up with some big saves.

Finally, in the fourth overtime, it was a turnover in the Clarence zone that did them in. The turnover was costly as Manns picked up the loose puck and snapped a wrist shot past Martina, who played a heck of a game.

“We were just lucky to get that puck in late in the fourth overtime,” said Miller. “It could have gone either way.”

Next up for Lancaster is Williamsville North at 6 p.m. Monday at the Northtowns Center in the WNY Federation semifinals.

“We have to go right back at it and just go over some of the little things,” stated Miller. “We had chances to put the puck in the net earlier and we didn’t. And, when you get too this stage of the playoffs, every goal counts. And we need those goals early on to, not just the late ones.

News and notes:

Both goaltenders were great as Martina made 41 saves, while Dichristopher made 47. This was the third game of the night and it started at 9 p.m. and ended right before midnight.

There was a good crowd on hand as both student-bodies showed up to support their schools.

Niagara-Wheatfield 12, Niagara Falls 0

The Falcons scored four times in the first and six more times in the second as they over powered Niagara Falls.

Cory Becker had a big night with two goals and two assists, while Mike Parisi added two goals and one assists.

Niagara-Wheatfield will take on Frontier at 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Northtowns Center in Amherst.