After losing game one, 4-2, on Friday night in the DeCosta Division finals, it looked as if the Lady Titans were going to let game two slip away on Saturday night, as well. Over the first two periods, Warwick had completely dominated the play, but had nothing to show for it. It out-shot Mount, 30-8, over the first 30 minutes of play, but went into the intermission down 1-0, with Mount goaltender Taylor Dill single-handedly keeping her team in the game.

But, having to win the period to keep the series alive, Warwick continued to pepper Dill with a barrage of shots, and the Mounties’ netminder finally caved.

Victoria LaFazia, Kelsey Holmes and Madison Balutowski all scored in the final 12 minutes of play to lead the Lady Titans to a 3-1 win in game two, forcing a decisive game three on Monday night. Results for game three were unavailable at press time – check Thursday’s paper for coverage of the third and final game.

Dave Tibbett’s team has shown time and time again that they won’t go down without a fight.

“We have a lot of resiliency,” Tibbetts said. “Our team has a lot of heart – we knew we weren’t out of it yet. Our backs were to the wall, so it was do or die. Everyone gave their best effort and we came out on top.”

The Lady Titans carried the play throughout the entirety of the of the game, but particularly in the second period.

After a stalemate in the first 15 minutes, Mount capitalized on a rare Warwick turnover at its own blue line, with Shannon McDermott retrieving the puck and beating Erin Vermilye to give the Mounties a 1-0 lead just 35 seconds into the second frame.

But Warwick responded well.

The Lady Titans out-shot Mount 19-3 in the second period, as the ice was tilted for the whole period following Mount’s goal, with Warwick desperate to find the equalizer.

Unfortunately, the Lady Titans were forced to erase a third-period deficit. They couldn’t solve Dill, who stood tall and denied a number of quality scoring opportunities – many of which came on two Warwick power plays in the second period.

With all of the pressure and no goals, the Lady Titans had to be a bit discouraged.

“We were a little bit frustrated, but we knew we were getting pucks to the net,” Tibbetts said. “We had to adjust the way we were shooting because we were shooting low in the first two periods. We felt that it was only a matter of time because they have a short bench. We had a lot of stamina in the third, so we were pretty confident.”

It didn’t take long for Warwick to tie the game in the third period. At the 3:09 mark, Balutowski created an opportunity, using her speed to beat a defenseman wide. She released a shot that deflected off of LaFazia, who was crashing the net, beating Dill to make it a 1-1 game.

Just 21 seconds later, Warwick took its first lead of the series.

After a Mount turnover, Holmes took off on a breakaway and ripped a shot past Dill blocker-side, giving the Lady Titans a 2-1 lead.

Balutowski added some insurance midway through the period, when she used her speed again to beat a defenseman and rifled a shot high, short-side that beat Dill over the shoulder.

Vermilye was solid in net in the win, stopping 12 of Mount’s 13 shots behind an all-around great defensive effort from the Lady Titans.

Warwick senior Savannah Hersey was phenomenal for Warwick on defense, logging a ton of minutes in a three-defensemen rotation.

“She played the game of her life,” Tibbetts said of his senior defenseman. “She’s a senior, so this could have been her last game. She stepped up and so did Makenzie Driscoll and Caroline Henn played her best game that I’ve ever seen – she did a good job.”

But even with the momentum, Tibbetts knew that Monday was going to be another tough game, as a championship was going to be on the line.

“They’re going to be rested on Monday,” Tibbetts said. “It’s going to be a battle. They’re going to be ready for us, so it’s not going to be an easy game.”