NJ
State
PBA
6
Port Authority
Police
Department
4
Rivalry in the making
PBA and PAPD go down to the last minute
n PHOTOS BY ED CARATTINI, JR.
The law enforcement version of the Devils against the Rang-
ers played at the Red Bank Armory on Feb. 25. The NJ State PBA
hockey team game against the Port Authority Police Depart-
ment (PAPD) was tied at 4-4 with 38 seconds left in the final
period and living up to the type of dramatic rivalry on ice that is
familiar in and around New Jersey and New York.
The pre-game festivities were befitting of the occasion with
the PAPD Honor Guard presenting the colors and its Pipes and
Drums playing the Star Spangled Banner.
The game almost didn’t live up to the hope as the PBA jumped
out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Michael Podlaski of Raritan
Township Local 337 scored the PBA’s first goal, and the team’s
sharpshooter, Damien Broschart of Asbury Park Local 6, tallied
to make it 2-0. Dan Tacopino of Monmouth County Sheriffs Of-
ficers Local 314 then scored to give the PBA a 3-0 lead after the
first period.
But there would be no annihilation on this night. PAPD took
advantage of some errant PBA passes to close to 4-2 early in the
third period, and only phenomenal play from Elizabeth Local
4’s Joe Aliseo in goal kept the PBA from losing the lead soon-
er. After the PAPD cut the lead to 4-3 at the 9:42 mark of the
third period, Aliseo appeared to save the day when he stopped
a PAPD breakaway with six minutes left.
PAPD did tie the game with five minutes left, and the PBA was
suddenly in need of some heroics. Like law enforcement work,
heroics in hockey is about going above and beyond and making
a split-second decision that leads to a successful outcome.
With 37 seconds remaining, Broschart won a faceoff, chipped
the puck ahead to himself, wheeled into the PAPD zone and ri-
fled a left-handed shot into the right side of the net. Tacopino
added an empty-net goal with 27 second left to make the final
score 6-4. d
66
NEW JERSEY COPS
■ MARCH 2017