The Alternative Press

WEST ORANGE, NJ - Seth Crockett scored two goals, including what ended up being the game winner at the 8:09 mark of the third period, to help lift the Livingston Lancers past West Essex on Friday night at South Mountain Arena.  The team won 4-2 to earn their third victory of the season.

The Lancers got off to a fast start against West Essex.  They scored the first goal of the game just 41 seconds into the first period.  Tal Finberg brought the puck up the ice towards the West Essex goal on a 2 on 1 play.  He lofted a pass that found Crockett down the middle, who buried a shot into the goal.

Just over a minute later Andrew Hirschorn once again found the back of the net for the Lancers.  Jonny Garfinkel and Finberg were credited with assists on the play, and the Lancers were up 2-0 just two minutes and two seconds into the opening period.

"We just kept our composure out there.  We stuck to our system and really played well," Livingston Head Coach Dave Conklin said.  "I just kept telling the guys to keep coming after them.  'Let's not play to tie or lose.  Let's play to win'"

It certainly looked liked the Lancers got Coach Conklin's message as they came out strong in the second period.  After surrendering an early goal, Hirschorn was able to score, earning his second goal of the game.  Mike Phillpott had the puck behind the net and made a nice pass out in front.  The puck found Hirschorn's stick and he shot the loose biscuit into the back of the goal to give the Lancers a 3-1 lead.

After that play, the game evened out a bit.  West Essex started to get some good quality play in their offensive zone and Travis Trent scored his second goal of the game at the 7:11 mark of the second period.  The Lancers were up 3-2 after thirty minutes of play, setting up an exciting and dramatic third period.

Luckily for the Lancers, they got the first goal of the final period, taking the pressure off freshman goaltender Brian Lilien, as they grabbed a two goal edge.  Garfinkel had the puck near the West Essex net and fired a shot that deflected off of goaltender Mike Cuozzo.  Crockett gobbled up the rebound and fired it into the open net.

"I just saw that the puck was loose.  I got to it as fast as I could and fired it in," Crockett said of his game winning goal.  "It was a big win for us tonight.  This was probably the best game of the year."

Arguably, the best player for the Lancers on Friday night was Lilien.  The freshman goaltender made some big saves  when West Essex brought the contest to within a goal on two separate occasions.  He stopped 28 of 30 West Essex shots.

"He played really well for us tonight," Coach Conklin said of Lilien.  "He's been a little bit under the weather, so he's not at a hundred percent right now.  Hopefully he'll get better and continue to play well for us."

The Lancers get some time off for Christmas break, but then go right back to work when they face off against Mountain Lakes High School on Monday, December 27th at South Mountain Arena at 8 p.m.