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Mamaroneck edged by Garnets

The Rye hockey team continued its stellar play last week, topping highly-touted Mamaroneck 3-1 at the Playland Ice Rink on Jan. 29. The victory capped off a terrific run for the Garnets, who managed to escape an extremely difficult two-week stretch of the schedule by going 4-1 against some of Section I’s top teams.

Jake Margoshes tries to control the puck in front of the net.

The Garnets broke a scoreless tie in the second period on the strength of back-to-back goals from Sam Askin and Peter Angelastro, but the Tigers were able to cut into the lead when Max Nodiff scored with eight minutes left in regulation before Brendan O’Byrne was able to put the game out of reach with Rye’s third—and final—score of the game.

According to Rye coach Peter Thomas, the Garnets were able to use their athleticism to beat Mamaroneck to the puck and generate scoring chances.

“Mamaroneck is always tough, but coming into the game I thought we had the edge in team speed,” Thomas said. “I think that showed, especially on our goals in that second period.”

Rye was also buoyed by a tremendous performance in goal by sophomore net-minder Annabelle Thomas who stopped 20 shots on the evening to keep the explosive Tigers at bay.

“She’s done a tremendous job for us this year, even though I think we relied on her a bit too much early on,” Thomas said. “But our defense started to play better and that made a big difference for us.”

The Garnets’ Jan. 17 loss to top-ranked Suffern remains the team’s lone Section I loss in a month, no small feat considering Rye has squared off against—and beaten— other top-10 teams including Mamaroneck, Pelham and Horace Greeley.

“This was definitely a tough stretch for us, but I think we’ve gained a lot of confidence by playing well against good teams,” Thomas said. “Hopefully we can keep that momentum going as we head towards the playoffs.”

Mamaroneck rebounded nicely from the loss, posting a 4-1 victory over Clarkstown on Jan. 31, and the Garnets (10-6) followed up their victory over the Tigers with a weekend trip up to Lake Placid where they split a pair of games against Section VII Sarnac-Lake Placid and Sarnac Central.

“It’s always good to play against upstate teams because those teams are always deep and play a more physical style,” said Thomas. “Hopefully that can prepare us for the playoffs, when things tighten up and everyone is playing tough.”