Cardinals earned a key point against first place Woodbridge on Friday.
The Ireton Varsity hockey team was back in action last Friday night with a 7:00 pm tilt at the Mt. Vernon Rec Center against perennial powerhouse Woodbridge. Those in attendance for the 7:00 pm showdown between division rivals were treated to an action packed thriller, with nonstop action right up until the final buzzer. When the smoke had finally cleared, the scoreboard showed a 10-10 final, enabling the Cardinals to record their 2nd standings point of the season and ending Woodbridge’s bid for a perfect season.
The Patrick division rival Vikings, sporting a league-best 5-0 mark, came into the contest missing a couple of their starters and the young Ireton squad used that to their advantage. Joey Gorman started the scoring for the Cardinals, notching his 1st goal of the season before the game was 3 minutes old. Woodbridge responded quickly, knotting the score at 1 just two minutes later. The teams would trade chances for the next 7 minutes until Stephen Gerke poked in a rebound of a Nick Tangora shot, picking up his 4th goal of the season with 2 minutes remaining in the period, and the Cardinals took that 2-1 lead into the break. However, the Ireton offense was just getting started.
Early in the second, Gerke netted his 5th goal of the season, slamming in a one-timer off of a cross-ice feed from Ryan Scott. Nick Tangora picked up the other assist. Just over a minute later, Tangora picked up his 4th goal of the season, upping the Ireton lead to 4-1. Fortunately for the Ireton faithful, Tangora, Ireton’s leading scorer this season, was just getting started. Before the period was over he had also added his 5th and 6th goals of this campaign, completing his hat trick with 7 seconds left in the frame. In between, Dillon Roach, the Cardinal Captain, added his first 2 goals of the season, including an unassisted, short-handed tally that upped the Cardinal lead to 7-2 and whipped the home crowd into a frenzy. That would prove to be short-lived, however, as the powerful Woodbridge offense finally got on track following a timeout to regroup. The second period ended with the Ireton squad holding onto an 8-4 advantage, but with the Vikings beginning to ramp up their powerful offensive attack.
The third period saw more of the same early, with the Woodbridge shooters coming at sophomore goalie Phillip Thomas from all sides. Thomas, who played the first 4 games of the season at forward, was making his first career start in net for the Cardinals. With 3 Viking goals in just over 3 minutes, the Ireton lead had been cut to 8-7. However, the duo of Stephen Gerke and Nick Tangora would click again, with Gerke picking up his 6th of the season on a Tangora assist, completing the 2nd Cardinal hat trick of the game and increasing the lead to 9-7. Woodbridge turned up the heat again, scoring the next 3 goals and giving them a 10-9 lead with 8 minutes to play, their first and only lead of the game. The Cardinals were not finished however and a furious rally ensued. With just over 3 minutes remaining in the game, Freshman Ryan Scott scored the biggest goal of his young Ireton career, tying the game at 10 with his 3rd of the season. Despite several more good chances at both ends of the ice, the game would end in a 10-10 deadlock.
Leading the scoring barrage for Ireton on this night were Nick Tangora and Stephen Gerke, each with 7 points (3 G, 4 A). Line mate Ryan Scott was next with 3 points (1 G, 2 A), followed by Dillon Roach with 2 points, both goals. Joey Gorman (1 G), Will Chastain (1 A), Jacob Bisnett (1 A), and Duke Roach (1 A) rounded out the scoring with 1 point each. Phillip Thomas, who picked up his 1st goal of the season in Ireton’s last game while skating out, stopped 31 of 41 Woodbridge shots in net to earn the tie. The next game for the Ireton Varsity hockey team is Friday, January 13, at 9:40 pm in Reston against division foe Forest Park / Brentsville.
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