(Noam Sports) As the regular season comes to an end, the Noam Knights hosted the Kushner Cobras in a battle to solidify playoff seeding. In the first game at Noam with visiting fans this season, the large crowd was not disappointed. The night started off recognizing the Noam eighth graders, led by co-captains Jaden Leffel and Gavriel Saks. Right off the initial puck drop, the eighth graders showed that they came to play. Pressure by the Knights came from blue-liner David Kranzler, and Leffel fed Saks for the goal and a quick 1-0 Noam lead. After some back and forth play, Saks won the offensive zone faceup back to Leffel, who blasted a slapshot from the point to stake what appeared to be a commanding 2-0 lead. A snapshot by Kushner’s Jeremy Tarzik hit the crossbar before the end of the period, and the Knights led 2-0 after period one.
The Cobras picked up the momentum right from the start of the second period. Tarzik scored on a breakaway, and a goal from Jack Salomon shortly after tied things up. Tarzik scored yet again before the end of the second, and it was 3-2 Cobras, with Kushner having wrestled momentum away from the home team.
Tarzik finished off his hat trick to stake the Cobras to a 4-2 team to start off the third. After the teams changed sides at the midway point, the Knights started to put on pressure. Shot after shot by Noam was finally rewarded with Sak’s second goal of the night, and the Knights were back within one. Time was ticking down, and with one minute to go, Coach Alan Teller called a timeout to get the Knights a much needed breather. With the goalie pulled off of a faceoff deep in the Kushner zone, the Kushner attempt at an empty net goal went wide. Kranzler hustled back to start the final rush. A pass across to Saks opened up the court, and he passed across to linemate Ryan Teller, who broke in. Teller’s quick snapshot to the corner surprised the Kushner goalie, and pandemonium broke out with 18 second left and the game now tied.
As overtime ensued, the two goaltenders settled in and put on a show. Evan Haber (Kushner, 31 saves) and Ian Mandelbaum (Noam, 26 saves) stopped everything thrown at them down to the final seconds, and as the final whistle sounded, both teams celebrated the 4-4 tie as they looked to the playoffs.
