Summit Boys Ice Hockey Ties A L Johnson 3-3

Summit's boys hockey team made a remarkable comeback against Arthur L. Johnson to end Wednesday night's game at Warinanco Park in a 3-3 tie, but it was overshadowed by rough play in the third period that resulted in two injuries and one ejection.

Within four minutes the Crusaders lost senior forwards Nick Villaverde and Kyle Mason to injuries. Villaverde hurt his hip when he crashed into the boards behind Summit's net, while Mason got taken down by two Hilltoppers in the neutral zone and injured his right knee.

Villaverde got up with the help of trainers and teammates after a few minutes, but Mason stayed down on the ice much longer. When Mason did get helped up, he could not apply any weight on his right leg.

The ejection came immediately after Mason's injury. Crusader sophomore forward Sal Demarzo hit one of the Summit players responsible, but after the referees whistled the play dead. As a result, Demarzo got a two minute minor for roughing and a 10 minute game misconduct, which automatically results in ejection.

After everything was said and done, there were no penalties on Summit.

Prior to all that though, Johnson looked poised to crush Summit, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first. Mason scored the Crusaders opening goal 18 seconds into the game on a rebound put back shot. Villaverde and Demarzo were credited with the assists.

The Crusaders made it 2-0 after a faceoff with a backhand shot right in front of Hilltopper senior goalie Brandon Jackson. Then with 7:07 remaining in the period, Demarzo scored on Jackson's right side to give Johnson a commanding lead early.

Summit head coach Keith Nixon called a timeout immediately after Demarzo's goal to talk things over with his players. The timeout worked, as the Hilltoppers began to play more aggressively and shut out Johnson for the remainder of the game.

The second period began with four consecutive penalties (two on each team). Then with 9:31 left, sophomore forward Eric Stabler scored a goal to cut Summit's deficit down to 3-1. Stabler crashed Johnson's net on a rebound opportunity following a saved shot by senior defenseman and captain Greg Holevas.

Holevas and sophomore forward Jeff Wycoff got the assists.

Stabler notched his second goal of the night about six minutes later on another rebound put back. This time it was after a shot by senior forward captain Bobby Lawrence.

While most of the rough play between Summit and Johnson happened in the third period, it really began at the end of the second when Lawrence got called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The Crusaders got a matching roughing penalty.

Following the injuries and ejection, there was still 5:45 left in regulation. The Hilltoppers were also still in contention, trailing by just one.

With 1:34 remaining, Lawrence scored right in front of Johnson senior goalie George Bogner to tie the game. In the last minute, both teams kept their goalies in net and Bogner made three great saves in a row to preserve the tie.

Summit is now 5-3-2 and A.L. Johnson is 5-4-1. The Hilltoppers next game is on January 16 against Governor Livingston at 3:50 p.m. at the Union Sports Arena.

Nixon was unavailable for comment following the game.