ATTLEBORO, Mass. – The Johnstown Tomahawks dropped a hard-fought 5-2 contest against the Northeast Generals Friday night at the New England Sports Village.
The Generals gained the 1-0 lead late in the first period when Justin Jallen poked a rebound behind Tomahawks netminder Vinnie Purpura.
In the second frame, Northeast added to their lead at the 3:19 mark with a Matthew Wiesner goal. His fifth of the season was assisted by Brady Gaudette and David Fessenden.
Northeast increased the score 3-0 with nine seconds remaining in the second period off a goal from Alex Rowland. His second of the season was assisted by Anthony Quatieri and Louis Boudon.
The Tomahawks cut the Generals lead to 3-1 18 seconds into the third period when Cade Groton capitalized on a pass from Christian Gorscak for his first goal of the season. Brendan White picked up the secondary helper.
Johnstown scored a power-play goal midway through the third period when Ben Schmidling’s shot beat Fessenden. David Schmidling and Hunter Carrick assisted on the goal that moved the score to 3-2.
The Generals answered back with a marker on the mad advantage from Colin Bilek at the 13:18 mark of the third period.
Northeast regained the three-goal lead less than 30 seconds later as Joe Nagle fired home a power play goal for his first on the season to set the score at 5-2.
Both teams reignited the series Saturday, Oct. 7 with a 5:30 p.m. contest. The Tomahawks open the home portion of their schedule on Saturday, Oct. 14 with Hawktoberfest presented by 1ST SUMMIT BANK. Four-time Stanley Cup champion Paul Coffey will drop the ceremonial first puck. Coffey’s appearance is presented in part by 1ST SUMMIT BANK, Laurel Auto Group, Emaps, Inco Beverage, Johnstown Construction, Roxbury Tire and Valley Printing. Mr. Coffey will be available to meet fans and sign autographs following the ceremonial puck drop behind section 9.
Fans can purchase individual tickets by visiting the 1ST SUMMT ARENA @ Cambria County War Memorial box office, calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000. The arena box office is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
For additional information, call 814-536-4625, email info@johnstowntomahawks.com, or visit www.JohnstownTomahawks.com.