The Rye Hockey team capped off their 2026 season with a historic victory on Friday, February 13, as they knocked off Suffern 5-4. The Garnets clinched the league title with the win and completed a season sweep over the Mounties for the first time in recent memory.
“This team showed their heart tonight,” Head Coach Pete Thomas proudly told MyRye.com after the game. “We allowed two quick goals to end the first period but we were unphased and continued to play our game. It was probably one of the grittiest efforts I’ve seen from a team and I couldn’t be more proud of them for what they accomplished.”
Coming into the game, Rye had not defeated Suffern on the road since the turn of the 21st century. The Garnets managed to do it with four healthy defensemen for much of the night on Friday – Will Weinman, Jake Souza, Julian Levenson, and Aidan Lynch. The corps combined for four points, highlighted by Levinson’s three primary assists and Weinman’s one apple plus exceptional defense and puck-moving from the back end.
Finn Draddy scored twice, his brother Ryan scored the first goal for the Garnets, Connor Dehmer buried a beauty, and Colin Nigro scored the winning goal on the man advantage. The wild night of offense was just enough to get by Suffern, who scored four goals on Fernando Mosquera, who had a strong game despite the box score.
Rye (14-2-3) has one game remaining on their schedule, an important non-league showdown with Rye Country Day on Thursday, February 19. The Garnets are already champions of their league and have locked up home ice throughout the sectional tournament, thanks to this clutch win and others throughout the year. They will look to end the regular season on a high note at 3:15pm on Thursday at Playland.
