Box Score
By Danny McBee
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 26 2008) -- The Hamilton Continentals scored a pair of goals in the closing 11 seconds of the first half, erasing a Vassar lead in the process, en route to a 6-5 victory in an evenly-matched, physical battle.
The Brewers finish the 2008 season with a final record of 4-11, 0-6, while the victory pushes Hamilton's final mark to 6-8, 1-5.
After an unassisted goal by Franke Holiber (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greeley) with 6:27 remaining in the second quarter cut the Vassar lead to 2-1, a pair of Vassar penalties with 30 seconds to play in the half gave the Continentals a two-man advantage, in which Holiber capitalized on a feed from Stephen Lefebvre (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) 11 seconds before halftime. The Brewers won the ensuing faceoff, but a quick turnover gave Hamilton one more opportunity, and junior Max Akuamoah-Boateng (Winneba, Ghana/Nottingham) launched a long pass from midfield to the goal mouth, finding teammate Quillan Reed (Cincinnati, OH/ Cincinnati Country Day), who beat Vassar goalie Ed Pappo (Malvern, PA/Conestoga) as the horn sounded, giving Hamilton a 3-2 halftime lead.
The Brewers controlled the tempo in the first quarter, holding the visiting Continentals without a shot while taking 13. Freshman Ryan Hart (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West) got the Brewers on the board first, off a Sam Thypin-Bermeo (Princeton, NJ/Hun School) assist with 8:45 remaining in the opening quarter. Sophomore Nick Cardillo (Honeoye Falls, NY/McQuaid Jesuit) added the first of his two unassisted goals with 3:46 remaining in the period, giving the Brewers a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period. Following the goal, Hamilton's Ned Gilliss (Towson, MD/Loyola Blakefield) was assessed a 3 minute, non-releasable penalty for an illegal stick, but the Brewers failed to capitalize.
In the second half, Hamilton struck first with Holiber's third goal of the game, this one coming off a Marc Albu (Darien, CT/Darien) assist. Down 4-2, Cardillo righted the ship for the Brewers, first scoring an unassisted goal with just under nine minutes to play in the third quarter, then making an excellent pass to a perfectly-positioned Tristan Jemiolo (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington), who easily beat Hamilton goalie Eli Leino (Keene, NH/Portsmouth Abbey) for his 14th goal of the season, tying the game at 4-4 with 4:29 remaining in the third quarter.
The Continentals took the lead for good on a goal by Akuamoah-Boateng at the end of the third quarter, and a goal with 12:53 remaining in the 4th quarter by Hamilton junior Peter Garrity (Cumberland, ME/ North Yarmouth academy) proved to be the game-winner.
Jemiolo, playing in his final game as a Brewer, was unrelenting, and after a furious Vassar attack, took a pass from Cody Scandore (North Andover, MA/North Andover) and found the back of the net, bringing the Brewers back within one. However, that was as close as the Brewers could get, despite a few key saves by Pappo down the stretch to keep Vassar in the game. Vassar's final possession was thwarted when Cardillo's pass was intercepted by Gilliss with under a minute to play, ending Vassar's hopes of sending the game to overtime.
Pappo made 10 saves for the Brewers in the loss, while Leino stopped 9 Vassar shots in the victory.
Danny McBee is a student assistant in the sports information office
