Brad Owens ripped a shot into the upper 90 of the net past Charles Varga, and Salisbury/Whitehall staved off some late Bethlehem/Central Catholic pressure on their goal on their way to a 3-2 win in their season finale last Monday night at the Lehigh Valley Ice Arena.

"We got off to a good start," said head coach Rich Crowley. "We got to them early, and our defense was on tonight. We're a defensive team and we fought all year. We lost some leads, but we fought back. And that's how this team has been all year."

Owens' goal was the third go-ahead goal that Salisbury/Whitehall (3-10-3) scored.

Max Beedle received a pass from Kyle Blum and snuck a wrist-shot behind Varga for the opening goal, just 0:22 into the game. It was a fast start for Salisbury/Whitehall, and it looked as if they were going to cruise in this one. They outshot Becahi/Central for the first 10 minutes, but then were faced with some pressure on their net.

Becahi/Central (5-11) was down two players because of penalties, but they looked like the offensive-minded team in that short span of time. Reid Seifert raced onto the puck at the mid line and found himself on a breakaway. Seifert tied the game with his short-handed effort.

In the second period, once again, Salisbury/Whitehall took the lead back with an early goal scored in the first minute. Matt Emerick ripped a slap shot that was blocked away by Varga, but it landed on the stick of Gavin Carey who is in the right place at the right time and knocked it in.

Becahi/Central fought right back. Tristan Collins (26 saves) dove onto an attempted pass through his crease, but the puck fell out and Sean Schirripa pounced on the open puck to tie game back up at two.

But Salisbury/Whitehall showed their fight and resiliency to take the lead back in the third period. Brad Owens hit his shot, and that gave his team some breathing room after Becahi/Central nearly took the lead a couple of times just before.

"It was a battle all game," Crowley stated. "We played great defense. We knew Tristan [Collins] was going to make the saves, we just had to prevent the rebounds. I'm proud of the effort in battling back after each goal."

The win is bitter sweet for Salisbury/Whitehall. They missed out on the four team Non-Pure league playoffs by one point. Becahi/Central finished the regular season with 10 points, to Salisbury/Whitehall's 9.

"We left a couple of points out there with the ties, and it's frustrating we didn't make the playoffs," noted Crowley. "But they never gave up. I've always said the kids have heart. They played right to the end of the season and I'm proud of them."