By The TimesLedger
Senior Division
Transcreen 5, Gary Mann Productions 3. In the season finale, Gary Mann Productions battled Team Transcreen down to the wire with a glimpse of things to come in the playoffs. Diego Rosa put Transcreen on top 1-0 after the first period. Anthony DiFalco knocked in two goals and Matt Lupoli one goal, upping Transcreen’s lead to 4-0 after two periods. Answering the bell for Gary Mann were Kenny McCrorie, Tim Caffrey and Adam Akpinar, each scoring a goal to make it a 4-3 game midway through the third period. With the fine two-way play of Pat Brennan, Danny O’Niell, TJ Moran, Keith Lippert, Guy Seminerio, Phil McGrory and Ed Johnston, it was end-to-end action for both teams until Jimmy Raymond went solo to net one at the 1:59 mark and ice the game and a 5-3 win for Transcreen.
Congratulations go out to coach Angelo Binanti’s and his Transcreen team’s 7-5 record and first-place finish in the regular season. Congratulations also go to first-year coach Donato Pinto, who did a great job in leading his Corona Park Pork Store to a 6-6 record and a second place finish and to Ed Johnston in guiding Gary Mann to a 5-7 record and third-place finish in the regular season standings.
Game 1
Gary Mann Productions 6, Corona Park Pork Store 5. In a wild start to the playoffs, Gary Mann Productions was fortunate to outgun Corona Park Pork Store and come away with a 6-5 victory in OT. Making his debut in goal was Corona Park’s Sal Pinto, who did a terrific job keeping his team in the entire game. David Kroepfl put Corona Park in front 1-0, but Gary Mann’s Adam Akpinar scored two goals and Kenny McCrorie one, staking Gary Mann to a 3-1 lead early in the second period. Corona Park answered back with three goals, with two coming off the stick of Mike Bova and one from Dave Kroepfl. But Anthony Mainolfi answered back to tie the game 4-4 going into the third period. Early in the third, Mainolfi scored again to put Gary Mann in front 6-5, but Cory McGrath tied it for Corona Park at 6-6. With strong play from Joey Monte, William Simonetti, Jimm Brady and Paul Cooley, both teams then battled to a draw over the next 25 minutes and a tied score of 6-6 at the end of regulation. In the OT session, Gary Mann first had to kill off a penalty and then saw their own Adam Akpinar score the game winner and his third goal of the game for the hat trick.
Game 2
Transcreen 6, Gary Mann Productions 4. In the second playoff game, Transcreen and Gary Mann Productions knocked heads again in a game not decided until the very end. In the first period, Anthony Mainolfi scored to put Gary Mann in front and then Transcreen answered back on 2 goals coming off the sticks of Matt Lupoli and Jimmy Raymond, but Gary Mann's Paul Gianatiempo scored to tie it at 2-2 at the end of one period. Off a nice feed from Guy Seminerio and with a man all over him, Kenny McCrorie scored a beautiful backhander, hitting it off the far post to put Gary Mann in front 3-2 at the end two periods. In the third period, Transcreen got rolling again on a goal from Matt Lupoli and two goals from Matt Novak. Gary Mann battled back on a score by Adam Akpinar and drew within a goal at 5-4. With under a minute to go, Gary Mann pulled their goalie, but Transcreen’s Anthony Binanti scored an empty netter to put the game away for Transcreen and a 6-4 victory.
Game 3
Transcreen 5, Corona Park Pork Store 4. In a wild game, things looked bleak for Transcreen until the third period. Corona Park took a commanding 4-1 lead into the third period. Transcreen appeared to be struggling, but after a pep talk from coach Angelo Binanti, the team came on strong, tying the game at 4-4 with less than three minutes left in the game. Transcreen, not wanting to go into overtime with the powerful Corona Park, shut the lights out with a goal off the stick of Jimmy Raymond with two seconds left in the game.
Game 4
Gary Mann Productions 3, Transcreen 2. In a must-win situation, Gary Mann pulled out a hard-fought 3-2 victory over team Transcreen. Matt Novak scored the lone goal to put Transcreen on top by score of 1-0 at the end of first period. Gary Mann’s Joey Monte went solo to tie the score at 2-2 at the end of second period. Jimmy Raymond scored early in the third period to put Trancreen on top by score of 2-1, but on a sweet feed from Scott Seminerio, Joey Monte scored to tie the game at 2-1 and then David Cho scored off a beauty of a pass from Anthony Mainolfi to put Gary Mann on top 3-2. Goaltenders Chris Rodriguez and Mark Kleva were outstanding in the nets for both teams, with Kleva making all the stops necessary in the last 13 minutes to save the game and preserve the 3-2 win for Gary Mann.
Game 5
Transcreen 5, Gary Mann Productions 3. In the fifth and final playoff championship game, Transcreen jumped in front with two goals by Matt Novak with assists from Keith Lippert and Anthony Binanti, but Joey Monte scored one goal, assisted by Tim Caffrey, for Gary Mann to end the first period at 2-1. Matt Novak scored unassisted for Transcreen again, but Matt Twomey went solo and Joey Monte scored with help from Twomey to answer back for Gary Mann and knot the score 3-3 at the end of two periods. With the likes of Danny Ngo, Diego Rosa, William Simonetti and Philip McGrory playing great two-way hockey and both teams flying from end to end, the game stayed tied until under the five-minute mark, when Gary Mann went on the power play. But with less than four minutes to go, Matt Novak scored a shorthanded goal to put Transcreen on top 4-3, and, with Gary Mann pressing after pulling their goalie, Novak scored his fifth goal to ice the game and championship for team Transreen and coach Angelo Binanti.
Congratulations go out to team Transcreen on winning of the DG Cup and Gary Mann Productions on their second place finish.
