Late Heroics Earn Chatham Hockey 3-3 Draw

A third period penalty shot goal from junior Alex Rauter with 18 seconds remaining helped the Chatham High School ice hockey team (2-0-1) earn a 3-3 tie against Kinnelon High (0-1-2) on Thursday at Mennen Arena in Morristown.

Junior forward Trip Burke got Chatham on the board first as he scored just two minutes into the second period, leading the Cougars to a 1-0 lead.

Late in the second period, though, Kinnelon sophomore forward Brian Gnad evened the score at 1-1 as he put a shot past Chatham goaltender Jordan Boles.

"At times we tried to do too much," Chatham head coach Harvey Cohen said after the game. "When you try to do too much, you leave yourself exposed."

Despite out-shooting Kinnelon 32-15 in this one, the Cougars struggled to solve Kinnelon goaltender Jason Braimon, and found themselves trailing by two goals heading into the third period

But with 1:53 remaining in the period, senior defenseman Billy Pellegrino flicked a wrist shot past Braimon from just inside the blue line, getting Chatham within one and setting up Rauter for the game tying score.

"They didn't quit," Cohen said. "They worked hard and played to the end. They could have quit, they could have given up, but that's not in them."

 "We have unlimited potential," Cohen added. "It's a question of fulfilling that potential and sticking to the task at hand. We need to play within ourselves and not take chances."