Suffern goalie Nick Modica makes a save on a shot in front of the goal by Pelham’s David Morgan in a Section 1 hockey match at The Ice Hutch in Mount Vernon Jan. 15, 2013. ( Matthew Brown/ The Journal News ) To view a gallery of photos from the game, click here.
By Mike Dougherty
MOUNT VERNON — It was so far beyond the normal grind.
Suffern had two players on the bench taking a quick inventory in the first minute of play, but the defending state champs did not yield to Pelham for even a second. The Mounties eventually responded in kind and skated off with a 3-1 win on Tuesday at the Ice Hutch.
Nobody was dancing around the contact.
“They were really banging,” Suffern defenseman Tom Mahoney said. “We had to slow it down and still find a way to move the puck quickly so they couldn’t knock us off the puck.”
It was a bounce-back game for the Mounties in more ways than one.
Suffern came into the game with just two losses. The only red flag is the fact that both of them came against Section 1 opponents — White Plains and Mamaroneck. It’s been four years since that happened last.
“Losing to Mamaroneck gave us a lot of motivation,” Mahoney said.
The Mounties (9-2) played without forward Justin Tiso and defenseman Anthony Carudo, who are recovering from recent injuries.
It’s pretty clear the game plan now calls for getting physical with Suffern, and fillings were getting rattled in the early going. Mahoney and Joe Verboys were both shaken up in the opening minute.
Robert Clark and Verboys needed a breather later in the period, as well, after blocking shots on a penalty kill and limping off.
Pelham (5-4-2) was missing forward Andrew Schauer, who’s been out a month with a concussion. Several role players were also home with the flu.
There was no room to breathe early on and both teams were careful not to allow the puck to linger deep in the zone for very long.
It was a long wait for the first mistake.
Pelham was late reacting to a wide-open Tom Brennan in the right circle, and he promptly wristed a shot over the shoulder of Matt DeYoung for a power play goal with 3:41 to go in the second period. Mahoney got the assist.
There was more emotion than usual during the celebration.
“We had to work to keep up with them,” Brennan said. “They’re so quick, but they just had one guy trailing so I was open and put it home.”
And then it was back to playing defense.
“That’s always going to be a big thing at Suffern,” Brennan said. “We play defense first and let the offense come from that. It’s a big priority to make sure the other team isn’t even getting shots against us.”
The Pelicans were getting flustered.
Nick Jaeger made Pelham even grumpier five minutes into the third when he scored after the defense survived a flurry of shots at the other end. Hugh McNulty got a blue-line slap shot by Nick Modica and made it a 2-1 game with 3:30 to go.
A deep turnover by the Pelicans allowed Kevin Hill to stick in the dagger with 56 seconds remaining.
“It was such a physically taxing game,” said Pelicans coach Ed Witz, who even moved top defenseman Will Cullen up front in search of more offensive pressure. “I was basically trying to get a spark. We only had one natural center left, and our center has to play a lot of defense so I thought we’d get away with it. We were losing 2-0 so I had to do something.”
11 Comments
Was a great game. Im sure every kid who skated last night got a good nights sleep after that physical encounter at the ice hutch. Players on both teams left it all out there.
Learning to live with a target: It has taken a little time getting used to, but Suffern’s learning to live with the title of defending NYS D1 state champs. While this year’s team is drastically different than last year’s, the opposition still sees a chance to slay Goliath. Mounties goalie Nick Modica summed up the situation well. “You are a state champion and every time you go to someone else’s barn or they come to play you, it’s going to be their biggest game of the year,” he said. “It was hard for us in the beginning to really focus on and understand that. Every team is going to give us their best, so we can’t have a night off.”
Great game by both teams last night. I still think it is hysterical that at 9-2 people are saying this is a down year for Suffern. They graduated 12 players last year, many of them 1st or 2nd team All-State and yet they are 9-2 (losing two 1 goal games to very good teams). The “gap” is smaller but the results are still the same. Great job guys and keep working hard because this is the fun time of the season.
I can’t agree with you more Noitall, very well put!!!
I found it encouraging that Suffern’s best shifts of the game came right after Pelham cut the score to 2-1 with about 3 and a half minutes left. They did not get flustered. Did not go into a prevent defense. They kept the pressure down in Pelham’s end. They were determined not to let this one get away.
noitall,
more than half of those guys rarely played,who are you kidding.
@Tough D
Welcome back, finally crawled out from under that rock? Tool!
FWIW, and I know coming from this poster it ain’t much, the Mounties are actually better than I thought they would be this year. They graduated their entire powerplay for goodness sakes!!
Not many teams have the depth and talent to play at the level they have this year while losing so many key players (regardless of where they came from). They really elevated their level of play last nite- from the goal on out- after a tough loss to Mamo.
If they can get healthy, and stay healthy, this team should be the favorite in DI. So far they have been more consistent and have shown more depth than any team in DI. That being said it will not come easy. They cannot just ” outtalent” teams like they did last year. If last nite’s bounceback performance at Witzland was any indication, I think they are begining to realize this..
noitall,
Your the best,I love how when Suffern doesnt play well and god forbid does lose a game ,its because they were missing this guy or that guy ,and when they win a game they should win ,they played a great game and both teams played well,Im sure the Pelicans played hard but its still a game Suffern should win.
WP hasnt played that well since beating Suffern but seems to know how to beat the Mounties as of late and then Suffern lost to a 500 team in Mamo, might be only 2 loses like you said but both teams will give them fits if they meet in Sections.
Yup, like I said, any opportunity to post a negative Suffern comment.
For the record, prior to the Dec loss, Suffern beat WP the last 3 times they played them, & since they had a full bench that night (in Dec), I doubt anyone claimed that loss was because players were missing.
On another note, MOST teams will say they lost/didn’t play well because they were missing this player or that player, but only certain teams get “called out” on it as being an EXCUSE.
There is always a REASON for a loss, that doesn’t make it an excuse. Obviously, sometimes it’s because the winning team is the better team (& although certain fanbases would like to believe that’s true in the case of both of Suffern’s losses, I’m not convinced).
Most likely, the reason for both of Suffern’s losses is something that has bitten them many times before over the years, playing too short of a bench (you can’t overplay one line, or even 2 lines, & not expect them to get tired…they’re going to become ineffective)
what Suffern parent do you think Tough D is? and I guess he wasn’t happy with his son’s playing time. and since he is focused on Scholer on other threads, I think it is a defenseman’s parent. never mind. don’t guess. not the kids fault. go away Tough D or you will be outed. some of us know who you are hiding behind anonymity.