By Larry Moko
A goaltender with little experience between the pipes helped the St. Thomas More Knights to a pressure-packed playoff victory in girls' hockey Wednesday.
More got a goal by Emma Knowles three minutes into a five-minute sudden-death overtime period to defeat the Bishop Tonnos Titans, 5-4, at Morgan Firestone Arena.
With the win, third-place More advances to the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic high school championship game against the first-place Bishop Ryan Celtics. That final is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 18 at Mountain Arena.
"Gabby (Gennaccaro) was awesome," Knights coach Trevor Young said of his first-year netminder. "She held her own and kept us in a position where we could win."
Neither team ever enjoyed a two-goal lead. And only because of a quick leg pad save by Gennaccaro on a dangerous BT rush in the final seconds did More get to extra time.
Normally a defenceman with the Hamilton Hawks organization, Gennaccaro converted to goalie a couple of months ago for More's high school season.
"I was really scared ... nervous because this was a big game," Gennaccaro said.
The Grade 9 student estimates it was only her fifth game in net.
"It's definitely different," she said of the switch. "My brother is a goalie. He taught me. He gave me some tips."
On the deciding marker, Knowles took a pass from Alexis Lalli as they skated in on a 2-on-1 rush.
"We had almost scored in their zone," Tonnos coach Alyssa Berardocco recalled of the game-winner. "In an overtime situation you've got to give everything in the offensive zone and that's what we were doing.
"They just had a quick tap and turned it into a 2-on-1."
Defenceman Athena Aitzis scored twice for More, while other singles went to Kionna McCrory and Hunter Burch.
Olivia De Caria fired three goals for Tonnos while captain Lola Connelly had the other. De Caria also dinged two hard shots off the post.
Said Berardocco: "If posts counted as goals it would have been a different outcome. Unfortunately, they don't."
The Tonnos coach said her players gave it their all and should be proud of their effort.
During the regular schedule Tonnos had a 5-3 record, including a split of two games against More.
"This was a fun game to watch," Young said. "Good up-tempo hockey. It shows the quality of our girls' league.
"We played a solid game with everybody contributing. Through the second period we were rolling four lines."
More's regular-season record was 3-5-0.
In the other semifinal, the defending champion Celtics defeated the St. Mary Crusaders, 12-3. Aly Pescetti accounted for eight goals and Jada Perger netted two. Singles went to Mary Monaghan and Juliana Van Dalen.
Kendra Restauri had all three goals for St. Mary, which will play a Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference AA championship game Thursday, March 5 against Burlington Central.
"The girls really bonded," Crusaders coach Deb Polak said of the team's 1-6-1 season record. "We used the whole team. We didn't leave anybody out.
"I'm hoping that we give (Central) a fair match. We'll try our best."
Photos by Richard Andoga
More photos on HWCDSB Athletics Facebook page
