Everyone hopes to have a nice, relaxing Sunday evening before the start of the work/school week.
But if you were a coach, player, broadcaster, writer, fan, or anyone who had any involvement in Sunday night’s Madison/Bernards-Somerville-Middlesex game, it was anything but a relaxing evening.
In a game that is unlikely to ever be repeated again, Madison erased a six-goal deficit in the third period to earn an 11-11 tie with Bernards-Somerville-Middlesex at Mennen Arena.
Yes, Madison rallied from a six-goal deficit to earn a tie. Yes, both teams reached double-digits in goals and combined for 22 goals.
It’s unknown (at the moment) what the state record is for total goals in a game, but this one certainly has to be at, or at the very least close to the top of the list.
Bernards-Somerville-Middlesex led, 10-4 after two periods, and appeared to be well on its way to a win. But a furious rally from Madison then ensued, which saw it score five straight goals, with the last one coming on an absolute highlight-reel goal from Sam Gero with 2:05 left to close the deficit to 10-9.
Madison was getting ready to pull goalie Bryan Worthington for the extra attacker, when BSM’s Jimmy Hathaway took advantage of a turnover and had a breakaway. He capitalized on that opportunity with 1:28 left, giving BSM an 11-9 lead and seemingly sealing the victory.
Or so it seemed.
Tyler Shannon scored with 1:14 left for Madison to cut it to 11-10 off of a feed from Gero. Then, a weird night got even weirder when a puck took a bounce off of a stanchion right to Shannon, who tucked it home with 33 seconds left to tie it up at 11.
But wait, there’s more.
Madison had a golden opportunity to win it just before the buzzer, when Gero made a near perfect pass to a teammate who had a wide-open net. But the BSM defender tied up the Madison attacker’s stick, not allowing him to get the shot away, and the buzzer went off to seal the tie.
Gero finished the game with four goals and five assists, while Tyler Shannon had four goals for Madison. Hathaway led the way for BSM with five goals and an assist.
No matter what side you were on and what your role was in this game, it won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
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