ROSELLE, NJ- The Governor Livingston Highlanders varsity ice hockey team took to the ice looking to get back on the winning track. Junior co-captain Carson Wahlers and senior Billy Alexander scored goals to lift the fourth-seeded Highlanders past the fifth-seeded Cranford Cougars by a final score of 2-1 in the 2018 Union County Cup First Round Monday night at Warinanco Park in Roselle.
The teams battled through a scoreless first period where both sides couldn’t set up major scoring chances, which changed in the opening seconds of the second period.
Cranford’s Pat Connolly was sent to the penalty box for roughing just 29 seconds into the second period, giving the Highlanders an opportunity on the power play.
After getting a few passes around, Carson Wahlers fired on net and the puck reached the back of the net for his team-leading 14th goal of the season, a power-play goal at 1:58 of the second period, giving his team a 1-0 lead.
Governor Livingston did work on their penalty kill, slowing down Cranford and preventing them from any major setups for the game-tying goal.
“We had a really nice hit about halfway through the second period by Ryan Erickson on a nice back-check,” Governor Livingston head coach Matt Anderson said. “He absolutely leveled one of their kids.”
The Highlanders would strike again after reaching the Cranford zone, after the defense was able to keep Cranford from scoring.
Full Coverage of Governor Livingston’s 2018 Union County Cup First Round Win Over Cranford HS Here
