JAMESTOWN – Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace anxiously paced back and forth as his youth hockey team, the Jamestown Red Raiders, skated against St. Joes at the Northwest Arena on Wednesday night.
Gerace’s team, made up of kids 15-years-old to seniors in high school, was feverishly trying to get some kind of advantage against an opponent they have become very familiar with.
“They have a good club,’ said Gerace. “We’ve had three games with them. The first game, we beat them 3-1, and the second game we had a bigger victory.”
The Red Raiders were down by two goals to begin the 3rd period, but rallied to tie the game at two goals a piece in the waning seconds, much to the delight of the home crowd.
“They weren’t smiling in the locker room after the game, “Gerace said. “They know they have to play three periods of hockey instead of what they did tonight.”
Gerace said he’s proud of his young team and acknowledged there’s more teaching and preparation that needs to be done.
“We have to go back to the drawing board at practice Thursday,” Gerace said.
“We have a really tough game against Meadville this weekend that we need to get ready for,” he added.
