Late Strikes Propels Suffern to Victory vs Garnets Hockey
The Rye Varsity Hockey Team battled tough against the defending New York State Division 1 champions, but fell 4-2 to the Suffern Mounties on Friday night. The game was deadlocked at 2-2 with under six minutes to go, but Suffern scored twice in the late stages of the third period to secure the win.
“We competed the entire game and carried the play 5-on-5,” Head Coach Pete Thomas told MyRye.com in his postgame report. “Unfortunately, we got into penalty trouble and Suffern made us pay when we were man down.”
Three of four of the Mounties’ goals came with the man advantage, including both in the third period. The Garnets scored two power-play goals themselves in a heavy special teams battle.
Jamie Morris scored on the man advantage in the second period to tie the game at 1-1, assisted by senior captain Dean Kim. The backhand tally was Morris’ first career varsity goal. With just under nine minutes to play in regulation, Max Niejadlik found the back of the net as a Rye powerplay was just about to expire. The goal tied the game at two, and Ryan Draddy earned the primary assist, his first varsity point. In goal, Owen Fitzgibbons turned aside 34/38 shots in the defeat.
Rye (0-1) will look to bounce back on Wednesday, December 11, in their home opener against Rivertown. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:45pm at Playland Ice Casino. Watch it here. Watch the loss to Suffern here (note: a Livebarn account is required to view both).
