They say it’s always darkest before the dawn and it couldn’t have been any darker Monday night for the Clippers as Stepinac handed them their hats in a 7-2 drubbing on their home ice in front of a packed home crowd. With the best of 3 series tied 1-1 and Game 3 on Tuesday night in Ebersole, it was time for the Clippers to take a good look in the mirror and figure out what kind of team they really were.

Liam Conry made a handful of spectacular saves in the opening minutes to keep Stepinac off the scoreboard, but they were able to sneak one through with only 10 seconds left in the 1st period.  The Clippers didn’t seem fazed, and Chris Astorino scored early in the 2nd period on a wrap-around to tie the game and take the air out of the Stepinac crowd. 

The 2nd period saw Stepinac continue to attack the Clippers' goal in waves, but they were turned away time and time again by Conry, keeping the game tied 1-1 after 2 periods. The Stepinac crowd was loud and rowdy as the teams returned to the ice for the start of the 3rd but were silenced and stunned when CJ DiAgostino sent a missile past the goalie 2 minutes into the period for a 2-1 Clippers lead!

Minutes later Alan Litovsky scored to make it 3-1, and the Clippers were rolling!  Before you could blink, Jake Giordano made it 4-1, and Andrew Migliore followed to make it 5-1 giving the Clippers a commanding 4 goal lead. Liam Conry continued his dominance in the net, not giving Stepinac any chance for a comeback and the Clippers skated to the City Championship for the second year in a row!

Way to go, Clippers!