Mt. Pleasant Wildcats Skate Strong in Scarsdale Tie

By Jonathan Martirano

Scarsdale(8-6-2) @ Mt. Pleasant(10-4-2)

Monday, 1/30 Westchester Skating Academy

Last Monday, the Ice Cats took on the Scarsdale Raiders, in an exciting 3-3 tie that saw some OT action.   In the first period, Scarsdale senior Ian Silberstein scored the opening goal off a tapping one in front at 9:54 to give the Raiders the early lead. Shortly after at 9:33 of the first period, forward Silberstein was called for interference. And only after 9 seconds of power play time, senior assistant captain Kevin Condon took a shot from the point and senior Nicholas Delia tippied the puck into the net to tie up the game at 1.  It only took 30 seconds for the Ice Cats to tie the game.  After those goals, both goalies made some good saves on quality chances to keep the game tied at 1 going into the second period.

Five minutes into the 2nd at 12:20, Mt. Pleasant senior captain Daniel Kluber headed to the box for a cross check and at 11:01 Silberstein took a shot from the top circle, which looked to hit off a man in front, and the puck dribbled in for a powerplay goal to make it 2-1.  But less than a minute later at 10:20, Scarsdale junior Jack Greco was sent to the box for a cross check and at 9:57, senior Aidan Schutt of Mt. Pleasant took a shot from the right corner which slid underneath the pad for another quick response seconds later to make it 2-2.

Schutt spoke on the goal and had this to say, “I was looking for a pass in front because I saw the goalie was down and out of position. So I threw it and I got lucky it went in.”  But again, this game wouldn’t stay tied for long as at 8:27 a Scarsdale forward took a shot from the slot and sniped it top left to give the Raiders the lead after 1:30.  Each team had multiple other scoring chances in the rest of the period with a prime one-timer save in the slot from Mt. Pleasant goalie John Sarfaty.  Safarty made numerous high-quality saves and was praised from assistant coach Alex Munoz.

“Johnny, he’s our ace in the whole, that kid keeps us in a position to win every single game. He’s just our anchor. I mean, really, he is. We can’t we wouldn’t be here without the kid,”

Heading into the 3rd period, Scarsdale held the lead at a tight 3-2 game. In the third period, things started off hot with two penalties on Mt. Pleasant but lucky for them, Scarsdale couldn’t convert. At 11:15 of the 3rd period, Scarsdale took their turn at the box and Greco was sent off for interference for his second penalty of the game.  But only five seconds in, senior captain Joey Engleman put the puck on a tee for senior Kevin Condon, who slapped one home to tie the game up at 3-3, something Mt. Pleasant did well all game.  The Ice Cats scored three powerplay goals and Joey Englman applauded his team. “We were on fire. I mean, that’s what we want to do for the rest of the season, So we’re trying to continue that.”

After the goal, both teams had some chances but a huge opportunity presented itself for Mt. Pleasant at 7:34 when Scarsdale senior Charles Stemerman was sentenced 5:00 minutes for a hit from behind.  But even with a hot powerplay, the Cats couldn’t capitalize on the 5-minute man-advantage.  At 5:21 however, Scarsdale senior Frederick Kushnick made a beautiful toe drag move around an Ice Cats defenseman and was inches away from scoring but Safarty made a great save. As the game wound down, it was looking like it was headed to OT which it was, but not before two great chances.  With 35 seconds to go, the puck was sent into the Ice Cats zone when Kushnick chased the puck but was not able to control it after Sfaraty came out of his crease to block and gain control of the puck. Then, with 25 seconds to go, Schutt poked the poke and had a breakaway but could’t convert as he just missed wid.  The game was headed into OT with both teams looking for the win.

In overtime, both teams had scoring opportunities but at 3:17, Mt. Pleasant senior Jake Melvin got 2:00 minutes for interference.  But again, Sfarty made huge saves and the Raiders couldn’t put one home.  At 48 seconds, another penalty was called, but this time on Scarsdale senior Samuel Horner.  Another powerplay for Mt. Pleasant.  With 3 seconds to go, Mt. Pleasant had a one-timer in front but a great save was made.  3 seconds went by and the game was over with a final score of a 3-3 tie.

 

Mt Pleasant(11-4-2) @ Ryetown(8-8-2)

Tuesday, 1/31 Playland Ice Casino

It was total domination for the Ice Cats in an 11-1 victory over the RyeTown/Harrison Titans at Playland on Tuesday, January 31.  After their game vs Scarsdale ended in a draw, Mt. Peasant was looking for a bounce-back win and they did so in dominant fashion.

As the puck dropped for the first period, both teams came out flying but the Titans started things off after Tse Max came up the left side boards, cut in and took a shot and put the rebound home to score only 20 seconds in.  However, this would be the only offense Ryetown/Harrison would get all night. Shortly after, Ryetown/Harrison would get into some trouble with the refs as Lovallo Nio went to the penalty kill for cross checking at 15:22 and then Max for a 5 minute major at 13:49 for cross checking after the whistle. At 13:22 of the first period, the Ice Cats got their first of multiple power-play goals when Nicholas Delia found Aidan Shutt in the slot for a goal to tie the game at 1 apiece to continue a hot power-play.  Then at 9:22, Daniel Kauber scored his 1st of 5 goals of the night and the Ice Cats second power-play goal off a rebound from a point shot to take the lead at 2-1.  Shortly after at 7:05, Ryetown/Harrison would be penalized for interference and only 25 seconds into the power-play, Mt. Pleasant’s Kevin Condon found an open Kauber in front and stuffed one in for his second goal of the period and the Ice Cat’s third consecutive goal of the period.  Mt. Pleasant Coach Alex Munoz applauded the hard-working power-play saying, “That has been probably the thing we’ve been working on the hardest. We just knew that the power-play is going to be one of those things that could break a game wide open, so we’ve been working on that very hard.”

At 5:38, the Ice Cats continued to dominate when Kauber sent a backhand pass in front to an open Declan Curry who scored to make it 4-1.  The score would stay the same and the period ended with the Ice Cats looking to continue their great play in the second period. At 12:58 of the second period, Mt. Pleasant’s Louis Sdao circled around the offensive zone before sniping one top left to beat the goalie and open the scoring up for the second period to make it 5-1.  Shortly after at 10:58, the Ice Cat’s converted on a 3 on 1 when Will Dlamer slapped one home from Kauber to make the game 6-1.  The Ice Cats would continue to add to their big lead with Nichols Delia scoring off a breakaway at 6:10 from a crisp cross ice pass from Adian Shutt and WIll Dalmer again off a rebound at 2:12 for his second of the night.  The Ice Cats rolled into the third with a commanding 8-1 lead.

It didn’t take long for the Ice Cats to continue where they left off in the second period, when Kauber made a pass off the boards to himself and shot far side to beat the goalie for his 4th goal only a minute into the third period.  The Ice Cats would add some insurance at 14:14 when Freshman Dean Dable shot one past the goalie in front to make the game 10-1.  Two minutes later Ryetown/Harrison would get another penalty, this time for tripping, and at 11:30, for the 5th time, Kauber tipped one past the goalie for the team’s 4th power-play goal of the night. ”I think we just worked together really well. You know, we made a lot of tape tape passes. And we got the puck in deep and then just worked on forecheck…they couldn’t really handle the speed.  Kauber added on the dominant team play. Both teams had a couple more chances but the score stayed the same for the rest of the period and Mt. Pleasant had a statement 11-1 victory of pure domination.  After the game, Kauber was pretty happy with how things turned out: “It felt great. I think we just worked together really well. You know, we made a lot of tape tape passes. And we got the puck in deep and then just worked on forecheck…they couldn’t really handle the speed.”  The Ice Cats improved to an 11-4-2 record and look to add to their win total in their upcoming games.

 

Mamaroneck Tigers(3-11-3) @ Carmel Rams (7-7-3)

Friday, 2/3 at Brewster Ice Arena

On Friday, February 3, the Mamaronek Tigers took on the Carmel Rams in a tight 3-3 tie at Brewster Ice Arena.  The game started out physical with a big hit in the opening minute, but it wouldn’t take long for the opening goal.  At 14:02, Carmel’s Casey Lowndes put home a loose puck in front to take the lead at 1-0.  Seconds later, the Tigers took a shot from the point, which resulted in a loose puck but Rams goalie Raffaele Lestigi made his first of many great saves of the day.  At 9:30 of the first period, the Tigers would tie the game at 1 when forward Lucian Weiss made a pass in front to Captain Sean Hugelmeyer who tapped it in the backdoor for the goal.  Both teams had some quality chances but the Rams would convert on a hardworking shift after Casey Lowndes set the puck up in front to Joe Intravaia to finish the play at 4:46.  In the final minutes of the first period, Chris Fry of Carmel would have a breakaway, which was stopped by the Tigers and the score would be 2-1 Rams heading into the second period.

Only just a minute and 11 seconds into the second period, Rams forward Brendan McMahon would be sent to the penalty box for head contact, which resulted in a 5 minute major for the Tigers.  Shortly after at 15:15, the Rams would get into some more trouble when Nicholas Falcone headed to the box for slashing, which gave the Tigers a 5-3 man advantage.  The Tigers would convert on the powerplay when forward Jonathan Kou circled around the offensive zone and found a lane to the net which he used to shoot one past the goalie to tie the game at 2 apiece. Throughout the rest of the period both teams would get good scoring chances but at 5:25, the Tigers were penalized for holding and the Rams would go on the powerplay.  However at 4:57only seconds into the powerplay, the Rams were penalized for cross checking, leading to a 4-4.  But this would turn out to help the Rams because at 4:17, Aidan Flemming of Carmel dropped the puck off to Intravaia behind the net, who came around and stuffed it past the Tiger’s goalie for his second goal of the game and the lead at 3-2.  Before the period ended, Rams defenseman Noah Jettelson would go end to end with a breakaway, but couldn’t get the shot off cleanly, and the period would end with Carmel leading 3-2.  “When our team is playing unified, we’re able to run three full lines. When we’re at full strength, we actually play a very, very good game.” Carmel Rams head coach Joe Minnix said.

But then at 7:07 of the period, Christian Buckner of the Rams and Lucian Weiss of the Tigers would get into a heated scuffle, which resulted in both of them being ejected from the game.  Both teams would have multiple grade-A chances throughout the rest of the period, and the Tigers even hit the post one one shot. However at 1:36 left in the 3rd period, Tigers defenseman CJ Soropoulus would take a shot and Anthony Hacker tipped the puck which ended up beating the goalie for a late tying goal to make it 3-3.

After the game, Rams captain Noah Jettelson had this to say, “I think we need to bear down more going into the later half of the period, but I think it was a pretty solid game from the team.”

Rams goalie Lestingi said “ We were taking too many penalties, a lot of retaliation, five minute penalties, it’s a tough game, physical game.”

The Rams look to get back in the win column Sunday against Mahopac.

 

BYSNS Bisons (5-12-0) @ John Jay CR Wolves (11-5-0)

Friday, 2/3 at Brewster Ice Arena

On Friday night, the BYSNS Bisons took on the John Jay Cr Wolves in a tight 4-2 victory for the Wolves.

In the first period, both teams had some chances to start off and also a couple big hits but the first penalty went to BYSNS as 11:21 of the period.  Luckily for them, they would kill off the power-play to keep the game scoreless.  However, at 6:48, the BYSNS would start things off when James Munoz put home a rebound from an Owen Cunnigham pass to score the game opening goal to make it 1-0.  Shortly after though at 4:38, John Jay’s Michael Mendicino hit a puck in front which found its way through to tie the at 1 apiece.  The Wolves would then get a power-play at 4:07, but didn’t convert as  BYSNS goaltender Ty Wingfield made a couple of big saves to keep the game tied at 1 heading into the second period.

In the second period, the Bisons would start things off fairly early at 12:34 when Cunningham skated down the left side and shot one past Dylan Rodgers to take the 2-1 lead.  Cunnigham had this to say about the goal: ”We have to win some games in order to score, so it just felt nice.”

Both teams came out flying for the final frame, and the Wolves had another breakaway chance but was stopped again by Wingfield.

“Ty’s one of the best goalies that we have in section one right now. It’s a pleasure to have him on our team. Without him we’re not in any of the games and don’t win any of the games without him.” BYSNS head coach John Veteri on the play of his goalie.  However, at 11:51, Steven Spaziani of John Jay sent the puck across from the corner and found its way through the legs of Wingfield to take the lead at 3-2.  A wacky goal is sometimes how you beat a hot goalie.  BYSNS responded with multiple grade-A chances from Charlie Heese and Matteo Guastadisegni as they worked the puck but could not beat Rodgers. Despite the loss, BYSNS captain Bryan Kottman had this to say about the game: ”I think we played overall a good game. We fought hard but we kind of lost it, it came down to a game of mistakes honestly.”