The 2012 Golden Eagles had a great run led by head coach Mike Stevens, asst. coach Chad Stevens, and GM Lavern Stevens.
Newtown's 17-1 regular season was led by a 64 point regular season from leading scorer Donald Stevens (30,34) along with 50+ point seasons for team MVP Linden Stevens (25,33) and jack-of-all-trades Preston Lay (29,21) who played both forward and defense. The NGE offense managed 15.1 goals per game, tied for first.
The rock-solid defense was anchored by stellar goalie play from veteran Clint Jones and young newcomer Craig Seneca who split time. The NGE defensive unit, led by speedy team captain Justin Gill and defensive MVP Josh Kacprzak, allowed only 7 goals per game, low-enough for second in the league.
The playoffs arrived with Newtown as the number one seed. As the CanAm playoffs progress lengths of the series do as well (Best of 3, Best of 5, Best of 7.) Newtown swept 8th seed Buffalo Creek 2-0 in the quarterfinals on opening weekend which left them anxiously awaiting the winner of the Rochester vs. Tuscarora series. The Tomahawks came out on top, besting Rochester 2-1.
Newtown took the semi-final round 3-1, rattling off 3 wins in a row after dropping the first game at home. It was a hard-fought series against Tusky with 3 of the 4 games being very close against a solid Tomahawks squad. Onondaga closed out their series vs. Six Nations that same weekend, 3-1.
Hosting game one of the finals, Newtown fought through a back and forth game to tie it up with 8 seconds left in the 3rd and final period. Unfortunately their efforts would come up short with a sudden-death victory going the way of the Redhawks. With a few untimely injuries and a talented Onondaga team coming on strong at both ends of the floor, the series would end 4-0 in their favor.
The Golden Eagles have not forgotten their bittersweet 2012 campaign and look forward to the road to redemption the 2013 season brings.
A preview of the 2013 season is coming soon!
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