The Frisch Cougars swept through the second annual Martin Weiselberg Preseason Varsity Hockey Tournament at Flatbush this past Sunday in Brooklyn. The victors joined six other schools, YDE, HANC, SAR, Kushner, Hillel and host Flatbush for a full day of action for the chance to earn the championship in the only preseason hockey tournament on the age level.
The schools each played two round-robin games with the top four moving on to the knockout rounds. The morning session began with a duo of comebacks as SAR and HANC erased two goal deficits to knock off Flatbush and Kushner. SAR rode two late goals to force Flatbush to a shootout where the Sting would take the 1-0 victory, while HANC scored five unanswered to hold back the early Kushner run. The third game of the day saw Hillel return to the Yeshiva League after a lengthy absence in an impressive showing, losing 2-1 to Frisch on a late Cougar goal. The noon game had YDE opening their tournament in similar fashion to last year’s surprising start, blitzing SAR 5-1 to notch their first win.
The afternoon session saw more lopsided action than the morning, as Kushner outlasted Flatbush 3-1, HANC dominated Hillel 7-1 and Frisch blanked YDE 3-0. The day’s results turned out Frisch and HANC as the two top seeds for the knockout round, with YDE earning the 3 seed by tiebreak. The fourth seed would be determined by a shootout between SAR and Kushner that turned into a highlight of the afternoon, going 10 rounds before SAR emerged victorious 2-1.
Following Mincha, the gathering participated in a recital of Tehillim for those captured and injured in the horrific attacks in Israel over the Sukkot holiday, and tournament organizer Elliot Weiselberg addressed the crowd, thanking them for their attendance, reminding all that being together and being unified as a group is a small way of keeping the terrorist agenda and their attempt to instill fear in our nation from succeeding. Each participant walked away with blue and white drawstring bags, helmet stickers and water bottles to show support for our brothers and sisters. Additionally, a portion of the proceeds from the day will be donated to Magen David Adom to help aid the recovery of the Jewish nation through these dark times.
The teams reconvened on the court for the semifinals where both matchups would provide a glimpse of common matchups in the upcoming season. The first contest was an all-East affair, with HANC matching up against YDE, where the Hurricanes rode two short-handed goals by junior Eliya Yizhaky to a 2-0 win over the Thunder. In the second semifinal, Frisch gained a measure of revenge from last year’s league final, downing SAR in an identical 2-0 result.
The final fittingly became a showdown of the two undefeated teams, as top-seed Frisch squared off with defending tournament champion, HANC. Goals were hard to come by as Frisch’s Akiva Rotenberg and HANC’s Josh Frankel put on clinics in net, both posting shutouts well into the third period. In the final frame however, the Cougars finally broke through on an Abie Fields snipe to give Frisch the lead and the win. Rotenberg’s two playoff shutouts and his sensational play throughout the day landed the junior the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
