Thursday, January 26, 2012

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Led by an 11-member senior class, including Eric Shalek, Tenafly now stands at 15-1 on the season after a 5-2 win over Pascack Valley on Wednesday night.

MONSEY, NY – Pascack Valley played a solid 15 minutes in the first period against Tenafly, the once beaten Bergen County finalist who had beaten the Indians twice already this season and were on the verge of opening a two goal lead early in the second.

Less than three minutes in, PV's Joe Mazzone found himself with the puck on his stick and no traffic in the 10 feet between himself and Tenafly goalkeeper John Winawer. Mazzone took his best shot, a wrister with pace, but Winawer was up to the challenge, snatching the point-blank shot high on the glove side. Twenty-two seconds later Brandon Bernstein scored at the other end of the ice and the two-goal swing turned the game in Tenafly's favor. The Tigers held Pascack Valley scoreless over the final 35:16 of the game, Bernstein finished off his hat trick with an empty-netter in the final 10 seconds and Tenafly posted a 5-2 win to improve to 15-1 on the season on Wednesday night at Sport-O-Rama in Monsey, NY.

“It was similar to the first time we played them. We were down 2-1 that time too and John [Winawer] made a kick save that kept us in it and we went on to win that game,” said Tenafly head coach Andy Escala. “Tonight he used the glove and we went the other way and scored. That was definitely a big save and to tie the game right after that got us going.”

Brian Sist's power play goal gave Pascack Valley a 2-1 late in the first period.

Eli Markowitz was near the blue line when he found Bernstein up the right side. Bernstein tucked his shot inside the near post to get Tenafly all even at 2:46 of the second period.

“That has happened all year long. John Winawer has made big saves at key times all year. He did it the first time we played them and he did it again tonight. To make that save and then go down a tie the game like we did, that was the real turning point,” said Bernstein, a senior forward. “[Winawer] knows that he is the backbone of this team. For as much offense as we have, it all comes down to how many stops he makes and that was a key stop.”

Tenafly got on the board first, scoring just 1:41 in on the power play when Bernstein slung a shot into traffic in front of the net and Max Drut redirected it home to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. Pascack Valley answered just over four minutes later when, a Winawer made the initial save, the rebound bounced out to Dylan Palmieri, who used a screen to rifle the shot into the left side and the Indians went ahead on the power play with 5:16 to go in the opening period. Sam Komrawer and and Palmieri assisted on Brian Sisti's man advantage goal that gave the Indians a 2-1 lead after the opening period.

Tenafly's Brandon Bernstein finished off a hat trick with a third period empty netter.

It was almost early 3-1, but Winawer's save turned the game completely around. Bernstein's goal got him started on his hat trick and tied the game at 2 and the Tigers took advantage of two power play opportunities to take the lead for good. Bernstein's tally at 6:06 of the second period off assists by Austin Rosen and Jake Bernstein scored unassisted, banging home a loose puck in front, to make it 4-2 Tenafly heading in the third period with the Tigers holding a 27-18 advantage in shot over the first 30 minutes. Brandon Bernstein's empty-netter in the waning seconds was the only goal of the third period.

“We try to play good defense day-in, day-out because that is what keeps you in games until you can find a way to win it. We killed a big penalty in the third period when they could have got back to 4-3 and their goalie [Jon Forte] played well to keep us from pulling away,” said Escala. “Pascack Valley is a strong team, they have good forwards that skate well and it was good that we played well defensively after giving up two early power play goals.”

At 15-1 with the lone loss coming against Don Bosco Prep in the inaugural Bergen County Tournament, Tenafly is putting itself in position for a long state tournament run, something that has been building for the last four years as this group of 11 seniors gained experience.

Dylan Palmieri's goal got Pascack Valley all even at 1.

“This team has been together for four years. It's pretty much the same team except for a few juniors. Freshman year we didn't make states, second year was a little better and last year was a little better than that,” said Brandon Bernstein. “We came into this year knowing we could do well and thinking that we wanted that target on our back and so far we have proved that we deserve it. It adds fuel to our fire know that everybody wants to beat us.”

The Tigers were the No. 13 seed in the Public A state tournament bracket last season and blanked South Brunswick in the opening round before going out in the Round of 16 in a loss to Westfield. It was a start, but Tenafly knows what it needs to do to make it deeper into March this time around.

“I just think that when we get into states it is about continuing to play good defense and putting goals up there is no reason why we couldn't go very deep [in the state tournament],” said Tenafly senior Seth Porter. “I all just depends on us. If we keep playing as hard as we have all season than I guarantee we will have a chance to win it.”

FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.