If there has been a knock on Mamaroneck’s hockey team this year, it has been that despite the squad’s gaudy 21-1-1 record, the Tigers have had a penchant for starting games slowly. In the Section I championship game against Suffern on Feb. 26 at the Brewster Ice Arena, however, it didn’t take very long for Mamaroneck to assert its dominance, as the defending state champs took control from the opening faceoff, scoring three first-period goals en route to a 4-0 romp over the Mounties to claim their second-straight section title.
Jack Dente drew first blood two minutes into the game, getting his stick on a shot by Patrick Lee to beat Suffern netminder Ryan Fueg. Seven minutes later, sophomore Harrison Schreiber gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead after a nifty backdoor pass from Michael Carducci, and senior captain James Torre also found the net off a Suffern miscue with 5:30 left in the period to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
In three games against the rival Mounties this year, the Tigers have outscored Suffern by a whopping 13-2 margin.
“We show up in big games,” Torre said. “When we played Suffern at their place [in a 6-2 win on Feb. 3] we did the same thing, we just came out strong.”
Torre added another goal 10 minutes into the second period to give the Tigers’ a four-goal cushion; one that they wouldn’t relinquish.
“They’re a good team and we knew we couldn’t take the lead for granted,” he said. “We didn’t want to let up; we wanted to come out and continue to play hard.”
Mamaroneck goalie Tommy Spero kept a clean sheet, making 25 saves to post his 19th career shutout, which puts him tied for the lead all-time in New York state. Suffern’s frustrations mounted and finally came to a head in the third period when Mounties’ standout Evan Cama took a run at the Tiger goalie away from the puck, sending Spero sprawling on the ice, and earning an ejection in the process.
In those late minutes, Torre said, the Tigers had to keep their composure in order to ensure that any retaliation didn’t lead to suspensions for the team’s upcoming regional game against Monroe-Woodbury on March 4.
“It got chippy out there, but we knew we had another game coming up in a week,” Torre said. “So we didn’t want to get involved with that, even when it was getting physical.”
