On Saturday afternoon those in attendance at Cranston Ice Rink saw hard hitting and a physical contest. The Cranston Reds matched up against the Bay Side Breakers. Cranston's team was in control throughout and won 7-3.
At times the game was dirty and the trash talking on both sides was out of control. Three players were ejected and the teams combined for 26 penalties.
A minute and a half into the game the Reds' Joseph Almeida was denied on his first two shots in front of the net but buried home his third opportunity.
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Cranston capitalized on their power play opportunity two minutes later and Corey Casale's shot from the blue line extended the lead to 2-0.
The lead shrank in half when the Breakers' Tim Harrison scored a power goal on a pass from Danny O'Mara.
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Cranston gained momentum with two goals late in the period. Kevin Gifford passed it towards the goal and John Ranalli blasted it home for their third goal. Twelve seconds later, with only twenty seconds remaining in the period, Ranalli scored again, upping the lead to 4-1.
Cranston's Steve Connermarche was ejected one minute into the second period, after elbowing a player in the head.
One of the main turning points of the game came in the middle of the second period. The Reds killed two penalities in a row, including a 5 on 3 power play for the Breakers.
Towards the end of the period, Cranston's Gavin Megley and Gifford scored in a span of two minutes, extending the lead to 6-1.
Cranston received their second ejection of the game when Will Donahue hit the showers early due to a game misconduct penalty with about three minutes left in the period.
O'Mara found the back of the net with about a minute left in the second, trimming the deficit to 6-2. He finished with two goals and one assist.
The Breakers' Tim Harrison was ejected in the third period and received a two game suspension for a verbal confrontation with the scorekeeper and members of the Cranston bench.
In the penalty filled contest, Cranston finished with 17 and the Breakers racked up nine. After each team scored once in the final period, the Reds came away with a 7-3 victory.
