Hockety Notebook: Somers/NS Clinches 1st League Title, Defeats Carmel, 6-2; Sabers Using Balance, Stamina, Defense to Offset Lack of Depth
Despite having had the finest hockey season in program history, Somers/North Salem Coach Paul DeLeo wonders why his 2012-13 Sabers have flown under the radar. The Sabers (13-3-2) have clinched their first league title in program history with a dazzling 9-1-2 league record, putting distance between themselves and second-place Lakeland/Panas (11-6-1) and Mahopac (9-8), who both check in at 8-5 and 7-5, respectively, in League I-A action.
“It’s the first league title ever in the history of our schools: That says it all,” Somers senior F Chris Marasco said.
D Noah Hale scored once and added three assists to a balanced attack that saw the Sabers blow open 2-2 game en route to a 6-2 blowout of Carmel last Friday at the Brewster Ice Arena. Mitch Lanyi (1A), Chris Marasco, Jason Teplensky, RJ LaSpina and David Rubenstein each added a goal for the winners. G Matt Rubesntein (2.47 GAA) stopped 15 of 17 shots on goal.
“I’m not knocking the newspapers or anything like that, but we’ve sort of been ignored… sort of flown under the radar here,” DeLeo said. “It’s a credit to the kids that they’ve kept working so hard. They’re buying into the team concept, and doing all the little things we need to do to win games.”
The Sabers are doing so with one of the smallest rosters in the section (14 skaters, two goalies), but they are getting solid contributions, with eight players scoring 10 or more points (numbers are approximate): David Rubenstein (23G, 16A, 39P), Mike Felton (6, 6, 12), Wilson McCloy (6, 10, 16), Mitch Lanyi (18, 10, 28), Alex Sheehy (3, 10, 13), Noah Hale (12, 7 19), Jason Teplensky (5, 5, 10) and Luigi Olinto (2, 10, 12).
“We don’t have many players on this roster, but their work ethic in the third period speaks to how hard they’ve trained all season,” DeLeo said. “Even with 13-14 players, we’ve been better in the third period than we are in the first. They’re just working hard all the time and I couldn’t be happier for them. Winning our first league championship is symbolic of their hard work.”
The defense has played to an outstanding level all season, limiting their opponents to just 51 combined goals.
“There are times when I think Wilson McCloy has been on the ice for the entire game,” DeLeo said. “We use him a lot and he’s been solid for us. He never gets caught. Mike Felton has been a captain for two years and he’s as steady as they come. Noah Hale is third on our team in scoring, and he added to that tonight with another goal and two assists, so the defense has been special. Everybody chipped in tonight.”
Coach DeLeo is expecting more of the same as the Sabers head down the stretch. With two regular-season games before the playoffs, Somers/NS is hoping to avenge its only league loss this Friday when it takes on a Mahopac team that hasn’t quite lived up to its billing at 9-8 overall and just 7-5 in a league they expected to win.
“Oh, absolutely,” the coach said when asked about the prospects of returning the favor. “They’ve always played us tough and they’ve generally beaten us, so absolutely we want to make up for that next game.”
Icy Tidbits (NWE-Putnam area teams only):
No.1 Team: Somers/NS – The Sabers have cruised through the league slate, but if they are as good as we suspect they will have to atone for the loss to Mahopac this Friday and win an opening-round playoff game. We can’t ask for much more than that with likely D-I powers like Suffern, White Plains and Mamaroneck looming in the second round, but don’t settle for less.
Most Improved Team: Hendrick Hudson – The Sailors started out the season at a ghastly 1-5 clip and have now improved to 11-7-2 behind an eight-game win streak and the superlative netminding of senior captain Zachary Shapiro (3.62 GAA), who allowed just one goal in a 2-1 win over Carmel Saturday.
Best 2-Way Player: Tom Kirinicic – The Mahopac junior D appears to be the most skilled player at both ends of the ice in this neck of the woods: Can’t find a glaring weakness to his game, if any at all.
Best Goalie Not Named Lanza: Zach Shapiro – The Hen Hud senior has carried the Sailors to their best season in the short history of the program.
Most Shocking Season Sweep: Carmel over Mahopac – Never saw this coming.
Most Frustrating: Mahopac – Expected this unit to score more goals, allow far fewer and at least contend for the league title.
Best Motor: Conner Bubolo – The L/P center had a league-best 41 points (23G, 21A) heading into the 7-1 win over Pawling. He’s rarely off the ice and continues to produce at a high rate for a Rebel team that few expected to be contending for second in the league.
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
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