HERSHEY — If ever there was an example of a hockey game won by a team that finishes opportunities, not just generates them, it was the CPIHL’s Viola Cup championship at Hersheypark Arena on Wednesday night.
Penn Manor defeated Elizabethtown 3-1 to win the title for the first time despite being outshot by the Bears 32-21.
The key to the game proved to be the second period. Elizabethtown had three power plays and outshot Penn Manor 17-4 in the 17-minute frame. But the Comets (19-1) scored the only goal to take a 2-1 lead.
That go-ahead goal was a nice tally by Jonathan Boozer, set up by an assist from Jaiden Batista with 2:02 left.
Boozer started to the left of the net but used nice stick work to set up a shot from the right, placing it between the goalpost and goalie Austin Grimm. It was the first playoff goal for Boozer and first playoff assist for Batista.
“That was a highlight goal,” Penn Manor coach John Ricci said. “Johnny took us all on his shoulders and scored.”
Until Boozer’s goal, it appeared the Bears (11-6) had the better of the play.
In the third period, Penn Manor kept Elizabethtown from generating many opportunities.
“Going into the second break, we talked about how they were sneaking in behind us,” Ricci said. “We said we had to play our game, not their game.”
Sebastian Elias quickly gave Penn Manor some insurance with an unassisted goal to make it 3-1 with 16:03 left. It was Elias’s fourth goal of the tournament.
Exactly 100 seconds into the game, Aydan Aliotta scored to put the second-seeded Comets ahead 1-0 with his first playoff goal. Elias assisted.
Penn Manor had two power plays in the first period, but cashed in on neither. Instead, Evan Kensey scored his 10th goal in five playoff games to tie it at 1-1 with 4:05 left in the first.
Kensey had several other opportunities, especially on a power play midway through the second period. However, Colby Barley made a glove save, one of 31 stops he recorded.
“(Barley) played a phenomenal game,” Elizabethtown coach Scott Cranston said. “He was definitely the MVP of the game.”
Barley might not have played the whole game, as Ricci was thinking about alternating between his two regular goalies.
But Cael Ulmer, the other goalie, opted to stay on the bench when he saw how locked in Barley was.
“(Ulmer) asked not to come in because Colby was playing so well,” Ricci said. “I think that shows the sportsmanship this team has, that he was sacrificing his last game as a senior for the team.”
The game was the last for each head coach, as both Ricci and Cranston will be stepping down. Ricci had coached hockey in various leagues for 50 years, 12 in the CPIHL. Cranston, who has coached for 32 years, will continue as an assistant.
Elizabethtown had won Viola Cups in 2011, 2016 and 2022, but did not get in the tournament last year and was the No. 7 seed this season before winning three out of four road games to get into the final.
