Variano Leads White Plains Past Stepinac on the Ice
By Steven Corvino
Two days after Stepinac’s 38-14 victory over White Plains in the annual Turkey Bowl football game, the Tigers gained some redemption by scorching the Crusaders 7-3 at the Ebersole Ice Rink in the second round of the White Plains Invitational Tournament.
And the Tigers have Paul Variano to thank, after the senior scored four goals that single handedly took down the Crusaders.
“It’s a great win,” said White Plains Coach Howard Rubenstein after the Tigers’ victory. “They showed up to play. We got some shots on net and we were finally able to break through with some goals.”
With the score 1-1 early in the second period, Variano found a loose puck in the front of the net to easily slam it past Crusaders goalie, Ray Guerriero.
Nearly 15 seconds later, Variano dove and flicked the puck past Guerriero to hand White Plains a 3-1 lead.
“He got some good opportunities for himself,” explained Rubenstein. “I expect him to have big games like this.”
Variano added two more goals in the third, including the dagger with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game. With the score 4-2, Drew Sobo sliced his way through the Crusaders defense and led Variano with a pretty pass in front of the net for the easy goal.
Variano tacked on his fourth goal with just over a minute left in the game to give the Tigers an easy 7-3 victory.
Mike Carrier, Kevin McGee and John Sullivan all scored for the Tigers. McGee showed off his uncanny ability to make moves with the puck which led to offensive opportunities for White Plains.
“He’s a natural forward but he’s playing defense for us,” added Rubenstein. “Once he gets into the open ice, he can make some plays.”
Charlie Flemen and Tyler Loughery both added goals in the losing effort.
“It’s a tough loss,” said Stepinac hockey head coach Mike Henderson. “I’m certainly not upset. We fought hard. But we have to find ways to generate more opportunities. Unfortunately, we couldn’t turn more shots into goals.”
With just over nine minutes remaining in the first period, Flemen fired a shot to the far post from the side of the net to give the Crusaders the early 1-0 lead.
The Crusaders, however, struggled to stay out of the penalty box, which allowed the Tigers to stay aggressive on the attack and control the tempo.
“It kills the momentum,” added Henderson. “It wears the players down and generates more shots for the other team. We have to find a way to stay out of the penalty box.”
Even though Guerriero allowed seven goals, Henderson was impressed with his goalie’s efforts.
“He’s a phenomenal goalie, maybe the best in our league, and he’s only a sophomore,” said Henderson. “We can’t ask for anything more.”
After Friday’s victory over Clarkstown, the Tigers scored eleven goals in the next two games. The surging offense has Rubenstein believing the team is heading in the right direction.
“Confidence is good right now,” added Rubenstein. “We have a lot of young guys and we’re finding the chemistry. We’re starting to gel.”
On Sunday, Stepinac lost 4-3 to Clarkstown while White Plains lost 7-1 to Monroe-Woodbury.
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