Frasca Nets A Pair, Royston Gets Game-Winner in 5-4 Win at Home on NYE
Erie, Pennsylvania – The puck drops before the ball does to close out 2024 and welcome in the new year. The annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (pres. by Printing Concepts) would welcome the Brantford Bulldogs to town for the only time this season, and look to give Erie consecutive wins to close out the year after a strong victory on Saturday against the Guelph Storm. With a raucous crowd expected for the Tuesday night game, expectations for a big finish to the year were high.
The puck would drop for the final time in 2024 and defense would be the name of the game in the first two and a half minutes, as neither team would be able to put the puck on net. It would be the Bulldogs to break through first, testing Erie netminder Noah Erliden but coming up short. The Otters would not be far behind, their opening shots dangerous enough to challenge Ryerson Leenders. Erie would go on the power play 5:15 into the first period, and with less than a minute left in the man advantage, Malcolm Spence would be sent to the box to momentarily even play with four men on ice each. The Otters would transition onto the penalty kill, where Noah Erliden would team up with the right goalpost to keep the Bulldogs from the net. The Otters would be able to kill the penalty, but seven seconds after even-strength would resume, Patrick Thomas (15) would draw first blood. Trailing 1-0, the Otters would find an offensive resurgence, applying heavy pressure to Ryerson Leenders to cut the lead. The Otters would return to the power play four minutes later. Again, the Otters would be unable to capitalize on the man advantage. Chaos would ensue as Erie would continue to apply pressure, throwing the puck on net to create a scramble of bodies, but Brantford would escape unscathed. The Otters would go into intermission down 1-0 and outshooting Brantford 12-11.
The second period would kick off with the same pressure that characterized the first. Neither team would be able to put on a shot for the first three minutes, until the Bulldogs would fire off two quick back-to-back shots on Erliden. Erie would finally be able to break through just over five minutes into the second, when Gabriel Frasca (6) would take a shot from distance to tie the game up 1-1. A dangerous Brantford opportunity would once again be thwarted by the goalpost just under halfway into the frame and the Bulldogs would be unable to take advantage of the scramble in front of the net. The Otters would return to the PK for the second time of the night off a Brett Hammond penalty. Erie would continue their night’s perfect streak of clean penalty kills and immediately apply pressure, resulting in a dangerous breakaway opportunity to remind the Bulldogs the Erie Otters are not an easy opponent. The Bulldogs would intercept a wayward pass and Brantford’s Nikolas Rossetto (5) would skate around Erliden to give the Bulldogs their second lead of the night. Up 2-1 with seven minutes left, the Bulldogs would continue their offensive pressure, teasing the back line with multiple near-breakaway opportunities. Tempers would flare in front of the Otters’ net, resulting in both Alexis Daviault and Tomáš Hamara sent to the penalty box for roughing. Four-on-four play would commence and pass cleanly, but no sooner than both players would leave the box, another Bulldog would find himself there to give the Otters a power play. With the final minute and the man advantage trickling down, it would be Malcolm Spence (16) to bring it home and level the score 2-2 just before intermission.
The tensions would boil over not even thirty seconds into the third and final frame, where Nathan Sauder and Noah Roberts would drop the gloves and have at it. Both players would be sent to the penalty box, along with Oliver Philips, but Sauder would be handed a 10 minute misconduct. The Brantford Bulldogs would take advantage of the man advantage and extend their lead to 3-2. Nick Lardis (32) would score again, his second of the night in just forty seconds, and pull the Bulldogs ahead 4-2. Down but not out, Gabriel Frasca (7) would find his second goal of the net off a mad scramble in front of Ryerson Leenders and poke the puck into the net to cut the lead 4-3. It would be full steam ahead for the Otters when, just over six minutes through the frame, Sam Alfano (20) would tie the game back up for the Otters 4-4 while also notching his twentieth goal of the season. Halfway through the third, Noah Erliden would remind the Bulldogs that no goal comes easy with a clutch save to keep the score tied. With the support of a brick wall in the crease, Erie’s offense would set the arena alight with a Wesley Royston (9) goal to give the Otters their first lead of the night, 5-4. With three unanswered goals, the Otters would continue to terrorize the Bulldogs with increasingly dangerous opportunities in front of the net. The Bulldogs would pull Ryerson Leenders with less than two minutes to go, but the man advantage would be no match for the Otters’ stalwart defense.
Thus ends 2024! The Erie Otters look ahead to 2025, starting with a pair of games to open the first week of the new year. On Friday night, Erie will take the final trip to Kitchener this season as they face the Rangers. Erie will return home on Saturday to battle the Windsor Spitfires for Pro Wrestling Night alongside Big League Pro. On behalf of the Erie Otters, we wish you a very happy new year and a terrific 2025.
