MORRISTOWN, N.J. – The first day of action at Mennen Arena went to overtime on Friday, with the 14U AA division featuring a game that took four overtimes to declare a winner. The Union Thunder and Flyers Youth battled it out in their second game of the day, with the Thunder ultimately coming out on top.
It was an interesting Friday evening in the arena, with the top seed finding themselves in an unexpected position fighting for their season to continue by winning the loser bracket. Earlier in the day, they were bested by the fourth seeded Hunterdon Bears 3-2. In that contest, the bears held a 2-0 lead almost all the way through the end of the second period. The Thunder scored their first goal of the game with only 12 seconds to go before the break. In the third period, the Bears scored another one and the Thunder were only able to respond with one more with 1:09 to go.
Later in the day, It was a slightly different story with the Thunder on the board first and scoring a second goal for an advantage that lasted until 5:02 in the second. But the third seeded Flyers Youth were able to tie it up with 6:22 to go in the third. Regulation was not enough to decide the contest, and the game continued for another 17:30 before the Thunder were able to score a short handed goal in the four overtime period.
The action continues tomorrow across all three playoff locations, with a 7 p.m. winner’s bracket game for the championship title and a second advancement spot game scheduled for Sunday at 6:15 p.m.
