After spending much of the winter as the top-ranked team in New York state, Mamaroneck’s bid to repeat as state champions came to an end on March 11, as the Tigers fell 1-0 to Williamsville North in the state semifinals at the HarborCenter in Buffalo. Despite falling short of their goal to become the first team to win back-to-back state titles since New Hartford managed the feat in 2010, the Tigers’ accomplishments over the last two years are not lost on head coach Mike Chiapparelli.
Heading into Saturday’s game, Chiapparelli and his players knew full well that the team that came out on top would be the odds-on favorite to claim the state crown. Williamsville North proved as much with their performance the next day, as they secured the Division I title with a 3-2 win over Pittsford.
“That was the state championship game and we knew it was going to be tough,” Chiapparelli said. “We had them scouted, we all knew we were the best two teams, and they just got the bounces that we didn’t get.”
The Spartans picked up the game’s lone goal with just 3:17 left in the first period, as junior Trevor Cavalier deflected a shot from Tyler Durfee to beat Tiger netminder Tommy Spero. Spero would finish with 23 saves on the day, but the Tigers were unable to put one past his counterpart to even things up.
“Tommy was great, but he didn’t have a chance on that one,” Chiapparelli said. “And [Williamsville North] really played their ass off, they blocked about 15 shots, we hit a few crossbars and just didn’t get the breaks.”
The loss, Chiapparelli added, shouldn’t take away from what the Tigers have been able to do on the ice for the last two years.
“We’ve gone 44-6-1, which is outstanding,” he said. “We won two section titles, two regional titles and a state title, but unfortunately, it just didn’t go our way.”
The Tigers will graduate a few standouts from this year’s team, including Spero and senior captain James Torre, but should have more than enough talent returning, including junior captain Michael Carducci, Harrison Fried and Harrison Schreiber, who will enter his junior season with 51 career points.
Taking over for Spero, whose 20 career shutouts are the most in state history, will be Andrew Garguilo, who Chiapparelli believes is poised for big things.
“It’s a tough chore taking over [for Spero], but Garguilo can do it,” he said. “He probably would have started for the other teams up at states.”
