The Rye Hockey team won the Mark Tyo Memorial Tournament over the weekend, defeating Massena 7-4 on Friday, January 9, and Canton 4-0 Saturday 1/10. This marks the Garnets’ second in-season tournament championship of the season, and they are now 4-0 in neutral site games on the year.
“We really dug in tonight and responded well to a 1-0 deficit at the end of the first,” Head Coach Pete Thomas said regarding the first win. “We exploded for six goals in the second period to take control.”
Colin Nigro scored five goals against Massena as the clear-cut first star of the night. Trevor Dolan and Will Niejadlik both added a goal of their own as Rye had to outscore their problems. Fortunately for them, those problems did not bleed into Saturday.
The following day, Rye pitched a 4-0 shutout over Canton, backed by incredible goaltending from Fernando Mosquera. Despite a slower start to his season by save percentage, compared to his standard, the reigning team MVP made 35 saves on 35 shots, as the team in front of him offered plenty of run support.
“This was probably our most complete game of the season,” Thomas said on Saturday evening. “I loved our game in all three zones. We had balanced scoring and ‘Nando’ earned his first shutout of the season.”
Nigro scored again, making it three straight games with a tally for him (seven goals in that span). Niejadlik also scored for the second time in the weekend. Will Weinman slotted a powerplay goal to go along with two assists, and Ryan Draddy closed the scoring in the third at even strength.
With the Mark Tyo Memorial Tournament title, the Garnets improve to 7-1-1 on the year. They will look to win again in their next contest on Tuesday, January 13. Rye travels up the Hutch to take on their bitter rival Pelham for the second time this season. The two teams tied in a home game for Rye just three days ago.
