BREWSTER — In a game that could only be called a classic, third-seeded Byram Hills won the Section 1 Div. II ice hockey title 3-2 over top-seed Rye on March 1.
Andrew Tymus scored the game-winner with 10:29 left in overtime. His hard slapshot from the blue line went past multiple bodies before going past screened Rye netminder Fernando Mosquera.
The game, played at Brewster Ice Arena, served as a goaltending showcase.
Mosquera recorded highlight reel-caliber saves on Zach Yoon and Christian Cipriano earlier in overtime.
If Mosquera played like a brick wall, stopping 36 shots (his best, an incredible post-to-post diving save), his counterpart, junior Lucas Guggenheimer, played like the Great Wall of China.
“Their goalie played the game of his life,” Rye coach Peter Thomas said after the game.
Thomas wasn’t wrong.
Guggenheimer stopped 48 shots.
He stopped pucks he saw and didn’t see and pucks he had no business stopping. About a minute before Tymus’ heroics, Guggenheimer saved a puck he didn’t pick up through a screen, then stopped another shot, then made a sprawling stop.
What it means
Rye, the defending Section 1 Div. II champion, which was a clear favorite, had beaten Byram Hills by two goals earlier in the season.
The saving grace for it is that this is Section 1’s turn to send two teams to the state regionals in Div. II so its season is not over.
It will play in a state regional March 7 against Section 5 with the time, place and opponent to be determined.
Byram Hills, which trailed No. 2-seed Pelham 2-0 in the semifinal before pulling off a 7-4 upset, will also play that day but at a Section 1 rink, again with time, place and opponent to be determined.
Player of the game
Guggenheimer got some help in the second period, when, down 1-0, he made a save but didn’t see the puck, which was lying in the crease before teammates Caspar Hamilton and Nathan Khaldarov dove behind him to clear it.
But Guggenheimer otherwise looked in complete control, while gaining top game honors. He stopped deflections, wrap-around attempts and several chances from right in front.
Game stats
The game was scoreless until the second period.
Rye went up 1-0 with 9:53 left when Will Niejadlik made a perfect feed from his right faceoff circle across to his brother, Max, who was skating on net off the left post. Kai Brittain also had an assist on the play.
Rye looked like it would escape the second period with a lead after it killed off two penalties, the second with 50 seconds left in the first to create a 5-on-3 disadvantage.
But about 20 seconds after Rye killed off the second, the Bobcats scored after Byram Hills picked off an attempted Rye breakout pass.
Yoon netted the goal with assists from Cipriano and Tymus. That came with 1:11 left in the second period.
The Bobcats went up 2-1 early in the third period, when, off a faceoff in the Rye defensive end, Ciprianto crashed the net, putting shot up and over Mosquera. Yoon had the assist.
Rye knotted things a little more than four minutes later when a shot deflected off Guggenheimer’s glove and Max Niejadlik put the puck in for his second goal of the game. Jake Souza and Will Niejadlik had assists.
They said it
“Lucas is out of this world. … He’s an amazing goalie,” Byram Hills three-year coach Patrick Busche said.
“He wants this more than anyone on the team,” Busche said. He noted Guggenheimer was annoyed when he was made to play on the modified team as a freshman because that team needed a goalie.
He split the starting role in net on varsity last year before becoming the Bobcats’ No. 1 keeper this season.
“I think I’ve slowly won him over,” Busche said with a laugh.
Busche added that his team was loose between periods, playing music in the locker room, knowing it was playing with house money as the underdog.
Thomas said he thought his team “carried the game” but couldn’t put enough pucks past Guggenheimer.
He said he stressed to his team its season is not over.
“The message I sent was, ‘You can feel bad right now but the good news is you have another chance,’ ” he said, noting he reminded his team that a few years ago Suffern lost the Div. I large-school championship to Clarkstown but, with both teams qualifying for the state regionals, Suffern went on to win the state title.
Suffern routs BYSNS for Div. I title
Suffern had the reputation and No. 1 seeding.
The Brewster/Yorktown/Somers/North Salem (BYSNS) squad, despite being without its top scorer and a key defenseman due to injuries, had momentum after its semifinal upset of Rivertown.
But that momentum ended Sunday in an 8-0 rout.
Suffern, which has won four state titles under 30-year coach Rob Schelling, including in three of the last four years, looked like it might well be heading toward another state championship game.
Sean Tyrrell had a hat trick and Matt Norum scored twice.
Suffern scored as many goals as it allowed shots on its net.
Tyler Grossman (seven saves) and Connor Tyrrell (one save) combined on the shutout.
What it means
The third-seed BYSNS finished its season 16-4.
Suffern, 15-5. encountered some unexpected bumps late this season, dropping, at one point, three out of four games. But it appears to have corrected the problems that led to those losses.
It will play March 7 in Albany against the Div. I champion from Section 2 in a state regional final. The winner will play in the state semifinals in Buffalo March 14.
Player of the game
Norum, a senior who doesn’t plan to pursue ice hockey after high school, earned top player honors with his two goals.
He scored the game’s first with 9:33 left in a first period that ended with the Mounties on top 3-0.
His second came early in the third period. Bison keeper Patrick Vaughan made a tremendous split save but the puck caromed to Norum, who buried the rebound to expand Suffern’s lead to 6-0.
Game stats
Sean Tyrrell, whose known for his lethal snap and wrist shots (one, high-speed snapper went right under the crossbar to make it 4-0, had two assists in addition top his three goals.
Gavin Turco, Owen Cosgrove and Anthony Ruggiero also scored.
Ruggiero, Schaefer Pinotti, Luke Lofberg and Nick Giammatteo each had two assists and Cosgrove and Patrick Priot both had one assist.
Vaughan was credited with 18 saves for the Bisons.
They said it
The Bisons were without top scorer Lucas Salvatore and defenseman Ryan Sandhop, who both also missed the Rivertown game with injuries.
Bisons coach Ryan Langkafel alluded to their absence when saying his team faced a “lot of adversity,” as well as a couple of bad bounces.
Multiple Bisons occupied the penalty box in the third period, called in part for hits — some of which Langkafel felt were legal.
“They played with pride all the way to the end,” Langkafel said. “We were going to compete hard, no matter what.”
Schelling singled out Norum for praise, remarking, “He works harder than anyone. … He’s done everything for our team.”
Schelling also liked his entire team’s effort. Suffern didn’t withdraw its foot from the gas pedal despite building a comfortable lead.
“It’s how we play every day. They go so, so hard at practice,” he said, noting that starts with pre-season 6 a.m. practices. “Their dedication and commitment has been incredible all year.”
“I think we really worked as a unit,” Norum said. “We really know what to do. You know, we all make smart plays We all know where to be. Every single kid on the team, even if they don’t play at all, they really know what to do and anyone can step in at any time and do the right thing.”
Nancy Haggerty covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Byram Hills (in overtime) and Suffern win Section 1 ice hockey titles
Reporting by Nancy Haggerty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
