Casey: 'We Aren't Going Home Without a Win'

MORRISTOWN — Solid defense and an offensively-charged third period helped the Chatham Cougars achieve an overtime victory against the Randolph Rams, 4-3, on Tuesday evening at Mennen Arena in the preliminary round of the Mennen Cup tournament.

Tuesday evening marked the second time the two teams had met on Mennen Arena ice. In the first contest Chatham was beaten easily, 4-1.

This time, sophomore Danny Casey and the rest of the fifth-seeded Chatham team had other plans.

"I wasn't going home without a win," Casey said.

The game's first period was very evenly matched as neither team was able to put the puck in the net. Chatham goalie Andrew Mortensen recorded 11 saves in the period and Chatham had six shots on goal. Mortensen finished the game with 23 saves.

The game's tone changed in the second period. Randolph senior captain Nick Kovary connected with the back of the goal off of a face off to put fourth-seeded Randolph on top 1-0 at 3:55, but soon afterward, Chatham was able to answer right back. After a Chatham steal, junior Connor Nelson scored a goal of his own to tie the game at one.

In what seemed like seconds later—at 6:28—a scuffle in front of the goal forced Mortensen flat onto the ice to block a shot. But after the save, Randolph's Kovary recovered the deflected puck and put it into an open goal to put Randolph back on top, 2-1.

It looked as if the game would end like the last contest between the two teams when, at 2:04 of the third period, Randolph junior Evan Jones banked the puck off the left post and into the goal to put Randolph up 3-1.

But Chatham had other plans.

Halfway through the period, sophomore Alex Rauter scored off a Casey pass. The goal at 8:10 brought Chatham within one.

The Cougars went on the power-play soon afterward, and they capitalized on their opportunity. Junior Billy Pellegrino connected a slapshot to tie the score at three.

With less than two minutes left in regulation, players from both Chatham and Randolph were placed in the penalty box. Neither team netted goals during the resulting four-on-four, however, and the game went into overtime.

And that's when Casey decided to take matters into his own hands.

During a five-minute break before the overtime, the sophomore told Pellegrino: "Billy, I'm going to get this goal—we aren't going home without a win."

Casey did exactly that.

At 0:28 of overtime, Casey sped down the ice and scored the game winning goal in dramatic fashion. As quickly as he scored, the crowd of mostly students erupted and rushed to the rink to share the team's joy.

With the win, Chatham moves on to the Mennen Cup semifinals Thursday at Mennen Arena. It will face No. 1 seed Morristown-Beard at 8:15 p.m.