Based on some comments on the blog, Section 1 chairman John Orlando asked me to tell everyone about the following rules for the state playoffs:
1) No noise makers of any kind unless it is a bona fide school band with some type of uniform and an advisor are allowed. 2) No handmade signs are allowed only official banners.

Also, a little more information on the site of the Rye game. Manhattanville College booked Playland for Saturday for its tournament. Section 1 appealed to the state committee to have the game moved to Sunday so it could be at Playland, but that was shot down. So Rye’s choices were the Ice Hutch or Hommocks, and it chose the Ice Hutch.

I just talked to Garnets coach Jason Friesen. He didn’t give a specific reason why he chose the Ice Hutch, “We just thought that would be a better choice for us.” Of course, Rye has won its last two playoff games there.

So the Saturday matchups are set. Here’s a quick scouting report on the Section 10 opponents coming down I-95 on Saturday for the state quarterfinals, and the Cathlolic team coming in from Buffalo. Please add whatever you can, as well as your thoughts on how these games might turn out.

The Thousand Islands Vikings topped four-time defending Section 10 champion Salmon River 3-1 last night. They are led by three scorers with exactly 42 points (Lars Grater 23-19-42, Bill Closs 18-24-42, Trevor Parisian 16-26-42). No one else more than 17. Goalie Jon Hall is 15-7-2 with a 2.15 GAA and 93 save percentage.

Here is a recap of last night’s final, courtesy of North County Sports Net: The Vikings got strong goaltending from Division II Most Valuable Player Jon Hall and goals by Bill Closs, Lars Grater and Ben Barton to defeat the Salmon River Shamrocks 3-1 last night. After a scoreless first period, Thousand Islands scored two quick goals to launch a 2-0 lead early in the second period, then tallied an insurance marker before the Shamrocks responded on a Ty Thompson goal. Hall made 45 saves in net, while Salmon’s Sonny Lightning turned aside 21 shots. Salmon River dominated play in the first period and had the better part of the play in the third from, but had a hard time solving Hall who made numerous spectacular saves. He was beaten only on a 2-on-1 advantage when Skaron Mayo streaked in from the right wing and fed Ty Thompson who rifled the mesh on the shot.

The Massena Raiders beat Potsdam 4-1 last night in a battle of teams both ranked in the top 5. Senior Matt Hatch (22-29-51) was Section 10’s leading scorer while goalie Kyle Anderson is 20-5 with a 1.44 GAA and 90 save percentage (thanks JVT). Here are some well-known opponents: beat Postdam two games to one, tied Salmon River 4-4, beat Ithaca 1-0, beat TI 4-0, lost to West Gen 3-0, beat Liverpool 6-3, beat McQuaid 4-2, lost to Aquinas 2-1.

Here’s the final recap, from NCSN: The Red Raiders’ Pat George scored just six seconds into the game on a shot that whipped the glove of goalie Richard Bradshaw and dropped behind him into the net. Massena piled up a 3-0 lead on goals by Nate Pichette and Conor Riley in the first 7:20 before the Sandstoners churned up their play and countered with a late first-period goal from Chris Roll. However, it was all of the goal scoring the Sandstoners mustered. The Division’s top scorer matt Hatch also netted a goal. Potsdam’s Richard Bradshaw stopped 24 shots, while Kyle Anderson turned aside 17 shots for the Raiders. Massena got their best start of the season and saved perhaps their most complete game of the season for the championship game.

The St. Joseph Collegiate Marauders is a powerhouse in Buffalo hockey, with three full varsity teams (Federation, Varsity A and Varsity B). They also have a very high opinion of themselves—how about this line from their web site about the Federation Hockey League: This league has now expanded to 14 teams and is considered by most hockey experts, the finest high school hockey league in the state of New York.

St. Joe’s has won five straight state titles, starting with an overtime win over Iona Prep in ‘03 (Gaels coach Tim Turbull was an assistant that year and his brother was a senior). They have also won 5-1 (Iona ‘04), 5-1 (Chaminade ‘05), 3-0 (FP ‘06) and 3-2 (FP ‘07)

This is from the Buffalo News: The senior-laden and top-seeded Marauders became the first Fed team to repeat as champion in seven seasons, winning their seventh title overall by handling Williamsville North, 5-1, in the large school championship game. Seniors Jeff Amico (two goals) and Anthony Farrell scored 19 seconds apart late in the first period to break a 1-1 tie and foil North’s hopes of advancing to the state public school playoffs.
And from the Niagara Gazette: “Our team has been a team of speed and a quick ability to score. That’s been the key all year,� Coach Pete Schneider.

The previous post has the up-to-the-minute schedule for Saturday and beyond. The Rye game was moved back from 7:30 to 8, probably making it just possible for me to see the end of that one. What a year for tournament hockey at the Ice Hutch, by the way: Empire State Games in July, Iona-Stepinac Games 1 and 2; Pelham, Scarsdale, Ossining, Mount Pleasant and Rye playoff games; Division II final, Catholic state championship and now the DII state quarterfinal.

Note: Updated with Thousand Islands win and Massena win

Saturday’s schedule is slowly coming into focus. Unfortunately for me and a few other diehards, it looks like the only thing we know for sure is that the doubleheader at Hommocks was ruled out.

Update: Mamaroneck will play Massena Saturday at 7. The Rye game will be Saturday at 8 against Thousand Islands at the Ice Hutch.

Well, I’m glad we cleared up that confusion. By the way, if anyone can listen to those Section 10 broadcasts and wants to post the winning scores, details, etc., please do. In the meantime, here’s something for the visual learners:

Saturday, State playoffs
Catholic state championship: Iona Prep-St. Joseph (Buffalo), Ice Hutch 3 PM
Division I state quarterfinal: Mamaroneck vs. Massena, Hommocks 7 PM
Division II state quarterfinal: Rye vs. Thousand Islands, Ice Hutch 8 PM

March 8, State semifinals in Utica
Division I: Mamaroneck/Massena vs. Lancaster/Monroe-Woodbury winner, 10:30 a.m.
Division II: Rye/Thousand Islands vs. Burke Catholic/Sweet Home winner, 3:15 p.m.
March 9, State finals in Utica
Division I, 12:30 p.m.
Division II, 3:30 p.m.

Note: Other Division I teams (with section) are Saranac (7), Fairport (5), West Genesee (3) and Shendehowa (2). Other DII teams are Northeastern Clinton (7), Webster Thomas (5), Skaneateles (3) and Queensbury (2).

What a great four days in Section 1 hockey. Six playoff games Saturday, including a one-goal game between Mamaroneck and White Plains and a game that didn’t end until after midnight with Yorktown-Brewster in double OT. Then two sold-out sectional championship games (900 at Sport-O, 700 at the Ice Hutch) between four state-ranked teams, each decided by a score of 2-1. Last night it was Pelham-Rye (Here’s the story)

Unfortunately I couldn’t access my own blog last night, and now I have other responsibilities I need to take care of, so hopefully later I can extend these thoughts. But Rye scoring in the first two minutes was big, because all of a sudden Pelham’s looking at the scoreboard, and I think it took it them out of their game a little bit. In fact, the Pelicans were playing from behind for 36 minutes last night. I thought both teams played hard, physical defense that took their opponent somewhat out of what they wanted to do. Like most teams Rye wanted to get as many pucks on net as it could, but after that first goal it wasn’t easy for them. And Rye forced Pelham’s shooters to the perimeter and limited odd-man rushes (except when somehow three players fell down, leading to the Pelicans goal).

These one-game finals are exciting, but it’s a little unfortunate for Pelham that the winning goal came when Andrew Emerson was knocked down on the ice, giving Jordan Eck all the time he needed to wind up and fire. If its any consolation, the Pelicans graduate just two seniors, forwards Alex Guenthre and Harry Mac Innis, so if everyone comes back, they are looking like the Division II favorites again next year.

That said, looking at Rye’s record in championship game across all sports, even if Eck didn’t take advantage of that situation with 9:41 left in the second period, they would have found a way again. At this point success breeds success—Gordon said that the youngersters see the older players win, and they want to emulate that so they work as hard as they can to make it happen.

Speaking of Gordon, he and Taku Nishino, who were matched up against their opponent’s top line, did a great job for the second straight game (they had Chris Latino’s line against John Jay Sunday). And Matt Benincasa was brilliant again—as was Pelham’s Adam Durand. Not much seperated these teams, who rolled out three solid forward lines in the first two minutes and kept them going, though Pelham shortened its bench toward the end.

By the way, here’s some videos from Pelham-Rye, courtesy of Dave Kennedy, which has Rye’s first goal, and Suffern-Mamaroneck from Angela Gaul, which finishes with an all-time classic quote from goal scorer Matt Marr: “Best single moment of my life. Better than me being born.”

We will hopefully know something later today about Rye’s next game. All state quarterfinals are supposed to be Saturday, but Playland is booked then because of Manhattanville’s conference tournament. So there are three options being considered—play at the Ice Hutch after the Catholic state final, at Hommocks before the Mamaroneck game, or Sunday at Playland, an option Section 10 would need to agree to.

Jordan Eck had a goal and an assist as Rye defeated Pelham 2-1 to win the Section 1 Division II championship tonight at Hutchinson Ice Arena in Mount Vernon.

It was the second straight sectional title for the Garnets.

Rye will host the Section 10 champion on Saturday at a place and time to be determined.

More to come.

I’m here at the Ice Hutch, ready to do updates between periods. The players just got on the ice, so I’m guessing a start time of 7:45.

I’ve been thinking about what to do about getting you guys an accurate final score, since I can’t post it myself and it was a problem last night (I will still be collecting IP addresses, by the way). I’m going to try and call someone in the office as soon as the game ends, so they can at least post a score here.

There’s still room here if you want to come out — with a capacity of 1,400, I don’t think they will turn people away like last night. Looks like all the seats are taken though.

Second period: Rye leads 2-1. Jordan Eck broke the tie with a slap shot with 9:41 left, the only goal of the second period. I’m having major issues accessing my own blog, so I’m sure I’m not the only one having problems. It’s shaping up to be another great game, and there was another sellout crowd, though I haven’t gotten an exact number yet.

So far there have been two winner-take-all championship games (Game 3 of the CHSHL and Division I), and they were decided in OT and the final 15 seconds, respectively. Let’s see if we can keep that going. Here’s a look at No. 3.

Who: No. 1 Pelham (17-8-1) vs. No. 2 Rye (16-8-2)
Where: Hutchinson Ice Arena, 7:30 (directions)
Key players: Pelham - Andrew Emerson, Jr., F; Mac Clay, Jr., F/D; Marc Flory, Jr., F; Rye - Jordan Eck, Sr., F; Marshall Rogers, Sr., F; Matt Benincasa, Jr., G.
When Pelham has the puck: While Flory leads the team with 24 goals, the Pelicans have tremendous depth, with six players recording more than 25 points. Four-year starter Kevin Gordon leads the backline for Rye, a defensive-oriented team which has given up seven goals in its last six games.
When Rye has the puck: After scoring just 12 goals in its first seven games, including five losses, the Garnets have been reinvigorated on offense. Rogers (39 points), a converted defenseman, leads the first line while Eck (24 goals) heads the second line. Four-year player Michael Mamone keys a tough, seasoned defense.
Outlook: These teams have combined for the last three Division II sectional titles, with Pelham winning in 2005-’06 before Rye won its first championship in 12 years last season. They split two games this season, with Pelham winning 3-2 on Dec. 18 at the Ice Hutch and Rye taking the rematch 7-5 on Jan. 30, two more goals than the Pelicans allowed to any other team this season. This is Pelham’s 17th sectional final in 22 years, but Rye comes in as the hottest team, having won 10 of 11 (the lone loss was to Suffern). They both have depth (three dependable forward lines) and experience in pressure situations. Rye goalie Benincasa, who earned the starting job during the season and just shut out John Jay in the semifinals, may be the difference.
X-factors: Pelham —Adam Durand. I hate picking a goalie here because it’s almost too obvious, but I don’t think I have a choice. It’s no secret that Rye scored seven goals last time against Pelham, and seven goals Sunday. Durand did have an encouraging performance in the semis, allowing just one goal against Yorktown. Rye —Ellis Beber. The junior forward had three goals—and his only assist of the season—in the first two matchups with Pelham. The Pelicans have the talent and discipline to possibly contain players like Rogers and Eck, leaving opportunities out there for players like Beber, Paul Mundinger and Chris Wenzel.
Prediction: Pelham deserves a lot of credit as a Division II program for going 9-5 in League 1 (9-1 outside of Mamaroneck and Suffern). I know they have a lot of success so its easy to overlook something like that, but what a great accomplishment for those guys. But Rye has seemed like an unstoppable force for more than a month now. And one thing about players like Eck, Rogers and Gordon—when was the last time they even lost a sectional playoff game? The football team has won six in a row. The lacrosse team has won three in a row. The hockey team won last year. These guys always come through in big games. Then again, they have never faced the awesome force, more powerful than any jinx, which is me picking their team to win. Rye 4, Pelham 2.

That was the chant at Sport-O-Rama last night after the Division I sectional final. Even those Mamaroneck fans would be hard-pressed to come up with a better script—down 1-0 after four minutes to the three-time defending (and 27-time overall) sectional champ, a team that hasn’t lost in 45 games, which includes three against the Tigers. Get the tying goal in the third period. Kill off a penalty in the final two minutes. And against hands-down the best defensive team in the section, get an odd-man rush in the final seconds featuring Brett Jackson, the X-factor who hasn’t been able to play against the Mounties all year, and Conner, one of the school’s all-time greats. Jackson faked the cross once and then poked it over to Conner, who put a first-class move on a first-class goalie. If you want a short version, here’s the story

I mentioned that Conner had missed two breakaways against White Plains (his two goals that night came on rebounds). I didn’t have room to mention that Conner tried so many moves on those chances that he didn’t get clean shots, and Tigers coach Art Bruno, coach Mike Chiapparelli’s assistant for all 302 wins, worked with Conner to use longer strokes on his next breakaway.

Later in the week I hope to take a few steps back and write about some deeper issues. For now, I’m jotting more of a play-by-play, and hopefully some of the 900+ people that were there can add to this. Just know that this is the kind of game it was: I brought a turkey sandwich with me for dinner, and I didn’t even remember about it until I was driving out of the parking lot at 11:15. It was only then that the adrenaline rush starting wearing off and I realized I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch. And it was the kind of ending that had coaches calling my cell phone and e-mailing me to see if it was real, while Suffern people starting cancelling hotel reservations in Utica.

Before the game: The game was delayed because of a really unfortunate incident in the previous game between two N.J. schools, Northern Highland and Montgomery, when a Montgomery player needed to be taken off the ice on a stretcher. Does anyone have an update on that? Not much to say, other than I hope he’s okay, and with the stands already pretty full with Suffern and Mamaroneck supporters, it was sort of a bizarre scene. Also, I got hit by a puck in the neck during warmups (I guess Mamaroneck didn’t appreciate my prediction), so if anything below is wrong, it’s because of a mild concussion. Suffern fans also started waving blue towels (a la Steelers fans), which looked really cool when the Mounties scored, but had an unfortunate consequence later.

First period: Jackson had the best opportunity early, but his odd-man rush two minutes in was thrwarted by a great pokecheck from Kevin Norwin. Soon Suffern second-line center Johnny Hill, who I thought was incredible last night, drew the game’s first penalty, a slash on defenseman Sean Hagan. Incidentally, I don’t think its a coincidence that Suffern’s only goal came with Hagan in the box—that’s how highly I think of the future St. John’s pitcher. Anyway, in a similar scenario to Game 1 in December, Suffern’s power play strikes quickly. Zac Hiller around the boards to Zach Salt behind the goal, to Matt Ruthberg in front of the net for a one-timer. 1-0 Suffern 3:55 into the game. For the next 10 minutes, I thought Suffern controlled the play, using all three forward lines effectively. Salt had a 1-on-1 chance, but Matt Seid expertly took the body and didn’t allow a shot with 6:56 left. Sixteen seconds later, Luke Glaser stops a Brian Hawley deflection off a Mike Conklin slap shot, and then stopped Hawley again on the rebound. WIth 4:12 left, Hiller was stopped on a 2-on-1 off a pass from Salt, and then with 1:35 left Glaser saved another Conklin slapper and the rebound by Hill. Finally, with 43 seconds left, Mamaroneck gets a good chance when freshman Robby Gardiner drove between the faceoff circles. Though Natoli made the save, Suffern defenseman Andrew Ojeda was called for unsportsmanlike conduct (I later heard it was taunting) during the stoppage of play, giving the Tigers their first power play of the game. Shots: 10-7 Suffern. Score: 1-0 Suffern.

First period intermission: This is when the capacity crowd of 900 paying spectators is reached. At this point, it’s probably 8:45. I understand some people were upset that they couldn’t get in, but it’s not like they were turned away at 7:30.

Second period: Suffern kills the power play—the Tigers best chance was Hagan’s wrister parallel to the faceoff dot. But Ruthberg tripped Jackson 1:09 into the period, giving Mamaroneck another shot. This time Conner had an opening skating in from the red line to the left of the goal, but Natoli moved his pads in the way quickly. The Tigers get a third straight power play when Ojeda is called for holding Robert Fine, but again nothing doing as the Mounties do a great job clogging the shooting lanes and Natoli doesn’t give up any rebounds—he either holds it, or pushes the puck over the boards. Hill draws an interference call on Adam Zweig with 5:24 left to give Suffern its first power play since the goal, but this time it’s Mamaroneck who has the best opportunity—Conner won the faceoff cleanly in the Suffern zone and Matt Seid got off a great slap shot. Interestingly enough, Chiapparelli said afterwards that his team played a more defensive style than the first two games and were careful to eliminate odd-man rushes. Well, the play that preceded the penalty was the only time I can remember that the Tigers defense was overly ambitious and got caught pinching, and the result was the penalty because they were chasing Suffern back. This time Suffern couldn’t convert, though they did get another power play with 22 seconds left after Christian Glaser was called for interference as he was heading back to the bench for a line change. I was writing something down and didn’t see it, but Chap was as livid as I’d ever seen him. Certainly the edge in penalties helped, but Mamaroneck had outshot Suffern 13-2 until the final minutes of the period. That reminded me of Game 2, when Mamaroneck had the edge in shots (and probably possession) but with Suffern’s defensive style, it didn’t get any great chances, and Suffern was the team that capitalized. I was definitely seeing another game where the opponent thought they could play with the Mounties, had their chances, and just couldn’t beat Natoli, or the stellar Suffern defense, and just thinking what might have been. Shots 13-5 Mamaroneck (game: 20-15). Score: 1-0 Suffern.

Second period intermission: Because of the delayed start, I had to start writing my story for the early editions during the third period, so I wasn’t able to pay close attention to everything. But here it goes.

Third period: Suffern’s Greg McCarron gets called for cross-checking 1:30 in after Glaser gets out of the box and misses a one-timer. I thought Mamaroneck was going to tie it with 11:30 left—after Sean Hagan’s slap shot, the rebound was directed toward Jackson in the crease, but he couldn’t quite control the puck and knock it in. One minute later, it’s tied, and its one of those moments that make the playoffs so fascinating, because no one would have predicted this. Everyone knew that someone besides Conner was going to have to beat Natoli for Mamaroneck to win. Likely candidates included Jackson, Glaser, Fine and Hagan. But it turned out to be junior Matt Marr, one of those non-stop hustlers and grinders, a second-line forward with five goals on the season. I think in the story I wrote he knocked down an Adam Zweig slap shot from the point. I think it was more like he was actively engaged with a Suffern defender, and he was hit by the shot. In any case, he turns around and somehow shoots the puck past Natoli. I was on the opposite end, but a spectator I trust who was near the play said the puck changed course and it had to have been deflected. Regardless, it went in. Now, the next three minutes are the most inspired and dominant play I’ve seen from Suffern since the first period. With 9:04 left, Glaser makes the save of the game, a pad save on a Salt deflection. Marr helped ease the pressure somewhat when he drew a high-stick on Ruthberg with 7:57 left, but as soon as that power play expired, Zweig was sent off for cross-checking with 6:20 left. Again Suffern’s power-play unit is stopped, but with 4:40 remaining comes one of the two calls that will surely be talked about at Sutters for a long time. This time I did have the right angle. The puck is between Glaser’s pads (but apparently still loose) when the referee’s whistle blows, and a split-second later Hiller comes in from the side to knock the puck in. The whistle clearly blew first, and I had lost sight of the puck, though I was overhead and didn’t have an on-ice view. Mamaroneck finally counters with about 3 1/2 minutes to go, but after a dump in takes a strange carom off the boards directly to Fine, Natoli stopped Fine’s shot from inside the circle, a deflection and a Conner slap shot all in less than 10 seconds. With 2:11 left, Fine gets called for interference, and after 39 scoreless minutes for the Mounties I really thought that might be it. But a deflection by Hiller goes just wide and the Tigers get through it, and soon after Fine is released, the biggest play of the season unfolds. Depending on what side your on, this was either a penalty or good non-call in the final seconds, but Hill was pushed down in front of the Tigers goal, and in the meantime a Suffern defenseman charged in to get the puck. Well the puck gets out to Jackson, who steams down the right side, gets it to Conner, and the rest is history. Well, not quite—what looks like the entire Mamaroneck team runs out to hug Conner, even though there’s 15 seconds left. Now, I didn’t get to talk to the refs after the game, so I’m getting this second-hand (though from a trusted source). I heard the refs were prepared to call a bench minor on the Tigers, except—while Mamaroneck is celebrating, some Suffern fans (looked like it came from the students section) starting throwing a few things on the ice. I saw one water bottle and a few of those blue towels. Perhaps the refs thought that cancelled out what was going on with Mamaroneck. In any case, nothing was called. When play is restarted, Suffern gets the puck toward Glaser and forces him to cover up, gaining a faceoff in the left circle with nine seconds left. But the faceoff is pushed to the side boards and the puck is eventually pushed past the blue line, giving the Tigers the championship 2-1. Shots 11-8 Mamaroneck in the period, 31-23 in the game. All of a sudden, sticks and gloves are flying in the air as the Tigers skate over to the opposite side of the ice to join their fans as the Suffern players collapse on the ice (and yes, a few more water bottles and towels get thrown from the Mounties student section, though security took control very quickly). It is really a stunning sight, one that I’m sure everyone there will remember, though for different reasons.

Post-game: After the post-game handshake—Hagan said the Suffern players were as classy as could be, and basically said to win states for them—the Tigers stay on the ice until the Zamboni driver, driving towards the center line, starts honking his horn. Conner talks about how he knew he wasn’t going to miss another breakaway, and championship games are when the best players need to take over (I’m reminded of Cody King winning the championship for Iona Prep in overtime), and how he hadn’t even been to a sectional final in four years until now. Goalie Luke Glaser said he dreamed of this moment, and it wasn’t as great as it was in real life. Hagan talked about the feeling of not only winning a title, but coming back against the top team in the state in their own building. And Marr said that while he doesn’t score much, he was ready when the time came.

I didn’t get a chance to talk to the Suffern players, mostly because they didn’t come out of the locker room until 10:45, almost an hour after the game ended and right up against my deadline. Maybe that’s an indication of how tough this loss was for them. When I left at 11:15, some players were still making their way out of the building, some for the final time as a Mountie. I did talk to Rob Schelling, who was gracious in defeat. I’m paraphrasing everything here: No excuses, no mention of the disallowed goal or the non-call at the end. Just how great both teams played, how when two great teams meet there can only be one winner. I asked if he thought the pressure of being top-ranked and undefeated got to his team, and he said no, that he recognized its easier to be the underdog but there was lots of pressure on both teams, since this was for the sectional title. And he concluded by saying how proud he was of his whole team, and especially his great group of seniors, who played so well for four years and contributed so much to the program and will truly be missed.

Well, it’s 3:00 and believe it or not, I have to (get to) do this all over again tonight, so I’m going to stop here. Hopefully this is enough to keep the discussion going at least. If you have more you’d like to add, or can offer a different perspective on something I mentioned, I’d love to hear it. I will also post a DII final preview around lunchtime today. By Wednesday I will also have some information on Mamaroneck’s state quarterfinal opponent Saturday, either Massena or Potsdam, who play tonight for the Section 10 title. Lastly, I have the IP addresses of all the people who posted incorrect scores last night and am seeing what my options are—for instance, whether I can block them from commenting on the blog again. There has never been blatant misinformation on here before (totally misguided, yes, but not outright lies) and I will do my best to see it never happens again.

As of 7:25, the game isn’t sold out yet, but there are no more spots in the parking lot and the line stretches out past the sidewalk.

The bad news is that in the previous game, a player from Montgomery (N.J.) was flipped and hit his head on the ice with 2:20 left. The paramedics have arrived and just took the player off on a stretcher. The rest of the game was called off, but there will now be an ice cut, a 10-minute warm-up and introductions, so I wouldn’t expect the game to start for another 30 minutes.

I’ll be back with an update after the first period. I talked briefly with reps from both teams, and they said the teams couldn’t be more ready for tonight. It’s impossible to underestimate the importance of this game — it’s not like last year, when the loser still goes on to the state tournament. This is going to be it for one of these great teams.

First period: Suffern leads 1-0. Zach Salt behind the net found Matt Ruthberg in front for a 1-timer on the power play. Shots 10-7 Suffern. Mamaroneck has another 47 seconds left in its first power play. Sport-O capped the crowd at 900, and it was reached at the end of the first period.

Second period: Still 1-0. Shots Mamaroneck 13-5 this time, and it was actually 13-2 until a couple minutes left. Suffern will have another 1:08 left in its third power play when the third period resumes.

Final: Mamaroneck wins 2-1. Hopefully everyone is aware by now. Suffern didn’t come out of the locker room until 10:45 so there was a delay getting back to you. I have deadline responsibilites right now, but I will be back later with more. A lot more.

I added two extra catagories to the preview box in the newspaper—an X-factor for each team not listed under key players, and a prediction. Tonight I should have scoring updates after the first two periods from Sport-O (and a final one after postgame interviews), and I’ll have a full recap and a Division II final preview tomorrow morning.

No. 1 Suffern (24-0-2) vs. No. 2 Mamaroneck (22-3-1)
Where: Sport-O-Rama, 7:30 (directions)
Key players: Suffern - Tom Natoli, Sr., G; Zach Salt, Sr., F; Matt Ruthberg, Sr., F; Mamaroneck - Brian Conner, Sr., F; Sean Hagan, Jr., D; Luke Glaser, Jr., G.
When Suffern has the puck: Salt, Ruthberg and Zac Hiller are three of the top five scorers in League 1. Salt, Hiller and freshman Jake Jaeger have great chemistry on the ice, while Ruthberg keys a dangerous second line.
When Mamaroneck has the puck: Center Brian Conner (41 goals) may be the most dangerous scorer and best skater in the section, while Hagan has one of the best slap shots. This is the first time the Tigers will face Suffern with junior forward Brett Jackson, the team’s second-leading scorer last season.
X-factors: Suffern - Mike Conklin and Andrew Ojeda. Both contribute mightily on offense—Conklin, a great shooter from the point, has recorded assists in 20 games while Ojeda, an aggressive checker, can take shifts at forward. But their most important jobs tonight will be containing Conner. Mamaroneck - Jackson. The junior had two goals and an assist when Mamaroneck beat Suffern 5-4 last year in the regular season.
Outlook: Suffern – the top-ranked and only undefeated team in the state – has not lost in 45 games, and has won the last three sectional titles. Before that streak, Mamaroneck won the Division I title in ‘04. Suffern beat Mamaroneck 5-3 and 2-1 during the regular season, becoming the only Section 1 team to defeat the Tigers. The first game against Mamaroneck was also the only time Natoli, a returning all-state goalie, has allowed three goals in a game this season. The key for the Tigers will be finding a second scoring option. Conner, who has six goals in two playoff games, had all four goals that Mamaroneck scored against Natoli this season. Both teams have outstanding power plays, so staying out of the penalty box will also be crucial.
Prediction: I had a math teacher in middle school who always said, “I’m from Missouri, the Show-Me State.” The point was, she didn’t believe us if we just wrote down the answer. We had to show us our work. So why am I telling you this? Because that’s how I feel about this game. I honestly believe that Mamaroneck can win. But a lot of teams looked like they could win against Suffern this season, and no one has done it. I thought Monroe-Woodbury, who beat Mamaroneck 5-0, would do it, and they lost 4-1. So until someone shows me it can be done, I’m going to keep picking the Mounties. Suffern 3, Mamaroneck 2.

There was a lot of talk about depth in our section this year, and certainly there was, with the surprising and unprecedented success of teams like Rye Town/Harrison and White Plains, the competitiveness within Leagues 2 and 3 and some big upsets by League 4 teams over Leagues 1 and 2. But in the end, the most successful programs historically are the ones left standing again: Suffern, Mamaroneck, Rye and Pelham.

These teams have or had the four winningest coaches in our area. Recently, they’ve won the last four DI titles and three DII titles. Even more recently, they’ve been in the state rankings for the past month, and the last time they lost to a team outside that foursome was when Pelham fell to Scarsdale back on Jan. 19.

Rye and Pelham put up dominating efforts last night to advance to tomorrow night’s championship game. Playoff upsets are certainly exciting, and they make my job a lot easier as a writer. But while there weren’t any big upsets this time, the good news is that now we have two incredible sectional finals.

Colleague Justin Jones saw Pelham cool off hot Yorktown, while I saw Rye shut out John Jay. My story focused on Matt Benincasa, the junior goalie who was fighting for his job when the season began and has now put up two sterling playoff performances. But hopefully everyone read to the end, because it was really a team effort, from the three forward lines that kept the pressure on all night to the defense that shut down an Indians team coming off a 10-goal game the night before. Also, one correction on the Pelham story: the goal credited to Harry Mac Innes was really scored by Mac Clay. Mac Innes had the primary assist.

Today’s newspaper also has a scouting report on tonight’s Division I championship. By lunchtime I’ll post some more thoughts, as well as a score prediction (hey, aren’t you 11-1 since the first round? Why yes, but I don’t like to brag. That’s good, because the one you missed was off by eight goals.)

Finally, here’s the updated playoff schedule:
Monday, Division I final
No. 2 Mamaroneck-No. 1 Suffern, Sport-O 7:30

Tuesday, Division II final
No. 2 Rye vs. No. 1 Pelham, Ice Hutch 7:30

Saturday, State playoffs
Catholic state championship: Iona Prep-St. Joseph (Buffalo), Ice Hutch 3
Division I state quarterfinal: Suffern/Mamaroneck vs. Section 10 at Section 1
Division II state quarterfinal: Pelham/Rye vs. Section 10 at Section 1

March 8, State semifinals in Utica
Division I: Section 1/10 vs. Section 6/9, 10:30 a.m.
Division II: Section 1/10 vs. Section 6/9, 3:15 p.m.

March 9, State finals in Utica
Division I, 12:30 p.m.
Division II, 3:30 p.m.

Though I certainly give Pelham and Rye an edge, I would not be surprised if any of these four teams won at this point. Still I think this is where Pelham’s top seed comes in handy, because I wouldn’t want any part of John Jay at this point.

Division I quarterfinals, Sunday
No. 4 Yorktown (16-7) at No. 1 Pelham (16-8-1)
Where: Ice Hutch 7:30
Breakdown: How much did Yorktown’s double-OT win over Brewster last night take out of them, especially since Pelham’s game ended six hours earlier? Frank DiMaggio is tied for fourth in the section with 37 goals and goalie Will Parra is a third-year starter for Yorktown, who is 2-2 against League 1 teams, splitting with John Jay, beating RT/H and losing to Mamaroneck. Pelham has had balanced scoring all season, and likely got a huge monkey off its back by getting past the quarters this year, so they should be at least a little more relaxed.
Prediction: I think the Pelicans depth and experience under pressure will trump Yorktown’s momentum, but just barely. Pelham 4, Yorktown 3.

No. 3 John Jay (9-12-1) at No. 2 Rye (15-8-2)
Where: Playland, 6:45
Breakdown: The teams split two regular-season meetings, with John Jay winning 3-1 at Brewster on Dec. 7 and Rye winning 4-0 at Playland on Jan. 9. But a lot has changed since then—the Garnets have won 9 of 10 (only loss was to Suffern), while in three games since changing coaches, the Indians have revitalized their season, almost beating Pelham, shutting out Clarkstown North and putting up 10 goals yesterday against Pawling/Dover. John Jay is also looking to avenge a 6-1 loss to Rye in last year’s sectional championship, though since this is the semifinals, I’m hoping neither team needs any extra motivation.
Prediction: Rye was my pick before this thing started, and while John Jay may be on a mission, the Garnets have been the best team for the past six weeks. Rye 3, John Jay 2.

After all the opening-round upsets, all six higher seeds won their playoff games on Saturday, though almost everyone was pushed to the third period. Of course, the closest we came to an upset was Yorktown-Brewster. The Cornhuskers were down 6-4 but scored twice in the final five minutes, and Chris Dorman’s third goal of the season won the game in double overtime.

Yorktown will face Pelham, who was tied 2-2 after two periods with Somers/North Salem before pulling out a 6-3 win. The other semifinal teams won convincingly. Rye took a 5-0 lead deep into the third period against Ossining, and John Jay smoked Pawling 10-3, though I heard it was 4-2 in the second when Mike Ott stopped a penalty shot, and then the Indians put in five more before the end of the period.

In Division I, Suffern outshot Mahopac 51-10, (corrected line: including an astounding 21-0 in the first period), while White Plains gave Mamaroneck a great game but fell 4-3 in the end.

We’ll have four game stories in Sunday’s paper (links to follow)—I was at Mamaroneck-White Plains, Alex Myers watched Rye top Ossining, Jake Thomases went back to Suffern and Dan Marra saw John Jay rout Pawling. At the moment we also have 60 pictures posted from the Suffern, Mamaroneck and Rye games.

I picked two scores exactly right (Pelham and Rye), and would have made it a hat trick if Suffern hadn’t pulled Natoli and let in that second goal. Though I was expecting exciting games, I predicted a bigger margin of victory for Mamaroneck and Yorktown. And, um, I was slightly off for John Jay.

I’ll be back shortly with previews of the Division II semifinals. Right now my plan is to cover Rye-John Jay, and then swing by Pelham-Yorktown to catch the end of that one. I’m anticipating two more great games.

Here’s the playoff schedule for the next seven days:
Sunday, Division II semifinals
No. 3 John Jay-No. 2 Rye, Playland 6:45
No. 4 Yorktown-No. 1 Pelham, Ice Hutch 7:30

Monday, Division I final
No. 2 Mamaroneck-No. 1 Suffern, Sport-O 7:30

Tuesday, Division II final
John Jay/Rye vs. Yorktown/Pelham, TBA

Saturday, State playoffs
Catholic state championship: Iona Prep-St. Joseph (Buffalo), Ice Hutch 3
Division I state quarterfinal vs. Section 10 at Section 1
Division II state quarterfinal vs. Section 10 at Section 1

The whole season has been building towards a Suffern-Mamaroneck final. But there’s still one more round to play before another showdown at Sport-O. Here’s a closer look.

Division I semifinals, Saturday
No. 4 Mahopac (6-16-2) at No. 1 Suffern (23-0-2)
Where: Sport-O-Rama, 6
Breakdown: In the two previous matchups this season, Mahopac has been oustcored 13-1 and outshot 80-17. Sure, Suffern may be looking ahead to Monday’s final (certainly I am), but I doubt it—you don’t go undefeated by not giving a full effort every night and taking teams for granted. The Indians deserve credit for keeping up their streak of sectional semifinal appearances during a rebuilding year, but of the six wins, three were against League 4 teams S/NS and SH/I, two were against a Fox Lane team that didn’t qualify for the playoffs, and one was against 1-22 Clarkstown North.
Prediction: I know, anything’s possible, that’s why they play the game, etc. But I just don’t see it. Suffern 7, Mahopac 1.

No. 6 White Plains (23-3) at No. 2 Mamaroneck (21-3-1)
Where: Hommocks, 8:15
Breakdown: For all the talk about White Plains being in League 2, it did prove itself by beating teams like Rye Town/Harrison (twice), Rye and Stepinac, and exactly one week before Mamaroneck beat E/T/B 13-1, White Plains beat the Eagles 12-1. So at this point, I don’t care what league a team is in. But all season long, there has been Suffern and Mamaroneck, and then everyone else. Besides Suffern, no Section 1 team has gotten within one goal of Mamaroneck all year. Of course, they haven’t played White Plains, which is having one of the best seasons in its history. Unfortunately for WP, it happens to be in the same section as two of the top teams in the state.
Prediction: Of the six games on Saturday, this is the one I’m most excited to see, because of the caliber of both teams and the collection of talent that will be on the ice. I just don’t see it being that close at the end. Mamaroneck 6, White Plains 3.

As always, please post your thoughts. Your guess on these is as good as mine (well, assuming you also went 4-0 yesterday. Just kidding)

Not much seperates Iona Prep from Stepinac, considering they split six games this season and the final combined score was 20-19. But that 20th goal, which came off the stick of who else but Cody King, decided a great series and gave the CHSHL title to the Gaels.

Matthew Brown had the perfect angle for King’s final goal, and the celebration that followed.

Though I’m sure its small consolation, Stepinac now knows how Iona Prep felt after losing in three games last year, and we all know how that turned out—a lot of the Gaels said they used the memory of last year’s disappointment as motivation to drive them this season.

Here’s the link to my story along with articles from Alex Myers, who saw White Plains beat Rye Town/Harrison 6-3 (White Plains gets over hump), and Eric Lebowitz, who watched Mahopac overcome Sleepy Hollow/Irvington 3-1 (Mahopac moves on to semifinals).

In the other games from last night, Mamaroneck had 15 players record points in a 13-1 win over Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville (though interestingly, shots were only 36-34, which shows how much that stat means I guess), and Suffern shut out North Rockland 5-0, despite getting no goals from its first line. Injured Suffern defenseman Greg McCarron scored and Brett Jackson had four goals for Mamaroneck coming off his injuries/suspension, so its good to see everyone is at full strength.

Now this is where those Suffern wins over Mamaroneck become so important, and not just for home-ice in a potential final—the Mounties get Mahopac, who it beat 5-0 and 8-1, while the Tigers have to deal with dangerous White Plains. Ironically enough, for everyone who wanted to re-seed after the first round, look what would happen now if you re-seeded after the quarters—Suffern-White Plains and Mamaroneck-Mahopac.

I mentioned how big Thursday was, with five playoff games. Well there’s six on Saturday. As mentioned in the comments last night, the Division II quarterfinals were pushed back a day, so here’s the updated schedule:

Division I semifinals
No. 4 Mahopac-No. 1 Suffern at Sport-O, 6 p.m.
No. 6 White Plains-No. 2 Mamaroneck at Hommocks, 8:15 p.m

Division II quarterfinals
No. 9 Somers/North Salem-No. 1 Pelham at Ice Hutch, 4 p.m.
No. 7 Ossining-No. 2 Rye at Ice Hutch, 8 p.m.
No. 6 Pawling/Dover-No. 3 John Jay at Brewster, 7:15 p.m.
No. 5 Brewster-No. 4 Yorktown at Brewster, 9:15 p.m.

Those of you who saw my preview in the paper over the weekend know I had the top four seeds advancing to the semifinals. But what are the chances of that happening? So I’m going with one upset. And I expect all four games to be somewhat close.

Division I quarterfinals, Friday (potential Saturday makeup times in parentheses)
No. 9 Somers/North Salem (16-8-1) at No. 1 Pelham (15-8-1)
Where: Ice Hutch 7:30 (Ice Hutch, 4)
Breakdown: Pelham hasn’t quite recaptured its dominant form from early in the season, but it still has tons of experience playing under pressure and, to be honest, I just don’t think it’s losing to a League 4 team. Somers/North Salem has a dominant forward (Joe Marasco) and a strong defense, but they are 0-3 against top-division teams (two losses to Mahopac and 9-1 loss to Stepinac).
Prediction: Pelham is eager to get past the quarterfinal round after last year’s upset. Pelham 6, Somers/North Salem 3.

No. 7 Ossining (13-9) at No. 2 Rye (14-8-2)
Where: Playland, 3 (Ice Hutch, 8 )
Breakdown: The two hottest teams in Division II — Ossining has won 10 of 11, while Rye has won 8 of 9. The difference is that the Garnets have done it against much tougher competition, with wins against Pelham, Scarsdale, Brewster and Whitesboro, while Ossining is 0-4 against League 2 teams (4-3 loss to Yorktown, 3-1 to Fox Lane, 7-3 to White Plains and 7-6 to Scarsdale), and has no games against League 1—though of course that was all before the win streak.
Prediction: The Garnets have played really well for six weeks. Even in the loss (3-2 to Suffern) they played well. Ossining’s comeback story has been remarkable, but I’m afraid it ends here. Rye 5, Ossining 2.

No. 6 Pawling/Dover (11-9-2) at No. 3 John Jay (8-12-1)
Where: Brewster 7 (Brewster, 7:15)
Breakdown: The teams met earlier this season, with John Jay winning 5-2 in the final of the Fox Lane tournament. In their last game two weeks ago, the Indians snapped a five-game losing streak by beating Clarkstown North 2-0. Normally a two-week layoff would worry me, but it should give the Indians time to adapt to their recent coaching change.
Prediction: P/D has the depth and the strength to wear teams down, and it has won five in a row. I’m not entirely comfortable picking a team I’ve never seen play — on the other hand, seeing teams hasn’t helped me yet either. Pawling/Dover 4, John Jay 3.

No. 5 Brewster (10-13-1) at No. 4 Yorktown (15-7)
Where: Brewster, 9 (Brewster, 9:15)
Breakdown: Yorktown swept Brewster, winning 2-1 on Jan. 4 and 5-4 on Feb. 8. Interestingly, it wasn’t standout Frank DiMaggio doing the damage in those games, it was Vinny Matranga, who had six of his 18 goals in those contests. Also, while the margin was the same, Brewster was outshot 38-15 in the first game but outshot the Cornhuskers 29-27 in the rematch.
Prediction: Yorktown has won 9 of 11, with victories also coming against Rye Town/Harrison and John Jay. This should be entertaining, but I’ll take the hot team in this one. Yorktown 5, Brewster 3.

I heard a lot of weather forecasts on the way in to work saying today was the calm before the storm. Not in hockey — today is the storm. With five big games tonight, four Division I quarterfinals and a winner-take-all Catholic game, this should be the best day of the season so far.

Tonight I’ll be at Murray, and other reporters will be at Playland and Brewster. Hopefully people can post updates below from all five sites (including Sport-O and Hommocks) as the night goes on. Last I heard, the wireless at Murray was password-protected by the county, so I’m not sure how much help I will be.

Tomorrow the plan was for me to go to Brewster to cover a Division II double-header, while someone else takes advantage of a rare early start time and heads to Rye-Ossining. We’ll see if the weather cooperates. Like I posted in a comment earlier, all four DII quarterfinals will either be played or cancelled tomorrow. Section 1 chairman John Orlando will make the final determination in the morning.

If the games are cancelled, they will be played Saturday, with the semifinals still on Sunday and the final on Tuesday. Here are the potential make-up times:

Pelham-Somers/No.Salem, Ice Hutch 4 PM
Rye-Ossining, Ice Hutch 8 PM
John Jay-Pawling/Dover, Brewster 7:15 PM
Yorktown-Brewster, Brewster 9:15 PM

Yes, Rye loses its home-ice advantage. The rest pretty much remains the same, though the Yorktown-Brewster winner will have a shorter turnaround than the Pelham-S/NS winner.

By the way, I enjoyed the Nets-Bulls last night, but it reminded me of one reason (of many, I know) that the NHL is way better than the NBA — there’s only one timeout for each team. Last night, there were six timeouts in the final 1:23 of regulation, and six more in the final 2:08 of overtime. That’s 12 timeouts in 3 minutes, 31 seconds! Here’s the proof. The crowd (about the same number that were at Suffern-Mamaroneck at Sport-O) would get pumped up during a break, and after five seconds of action, the game would stop again.

Here’s some thoughts on tomorrow’s Division I quarterfinals. Surely my picking prowess isn’t enough to take down Suffern and Mamaroneck, is it? As always, please add your thoughts—since there’s no games tonight, what else are you doing?

Division I quarterfinals, Thursday
No. 9 North Rockland (14-7-1) at No. 1 Suffern (22-0-2)
Where: Sport-O-Rama, 7:30
Breakdown: North Rockland has won 8 of 10, a run that began after losing 10-3 to Suffern on Jan. 4. That represents the most goals the Mounties have scored this season. The Red Raiders have also improved a lot since that first meeting, and yes all the pressure is on the Mounties, but that’s been true this whole season, and it hasn’t hurt them yet. And I’ve asked this before, but when was the last time Suffern lost a playoff game at Sport-O?
Prediction: Suffern hasn’t won a game by more than 7, so I’m not going crazy with the margin of victory. Suffern 8, North Rockland 2.

No. 10 Eastchester/Tuckahoe/Bronxville (13-6) at No. 2 Mamaroneck (20-3-1)
Where: Hommocks, 8
Breakdown: The Eagles showed a lot of grit overcoming a 4-0 deficit against Scarsdale in the first round, and they won’t be scared going into the Jungle after last year’s playoff game, which was tied 2-2 after two periods. On the other hand, that game means Mamaroneck knows not to take this team lightly. Besides stopping Alex Hagen, I think the biggest concern for the Tigers has been their layoff—they have only played twice in four weeks, and the last game was Feb. 8 at Suffern.
Prediction: Both teams have a lot of firepower, but I like Mamaroneck’s defense and depth a little bit more. Mamaroneck 7, E/T/B 4.

No. 6 White Plains (22-3) at No. 3 Rye Town/Harrison (13-8)
Where: Playland, 8
Breakdown: Here’s the story about this game from today’s paper. White Plains hasn’t won the section since 1979, and of course RT/H is only four years old, so both teams have to be looking at this season as their best chance to go deep in the playoffs in a long time. Who will shine under pressure? White Plains won 6-1 in its Thanksgiving tournament, but it was the third day in a row for each team and that was a long time ago. But the Tigers also beat the Titans twice last year, and in the ‘06 playoffs, so do they have the Titans number? RT/H is obviously more seasoned playing in League 1, but that advantage might be wiped out by the injury to starting forward Adam Urban.
Prediction: Though I would give a slight edge to different teams in each category, both have senior star-power up front (Sigona-Encarnacao and Novick-McKinney) teamed with a talented underclassman, a dependable second line, four very solid defensemen and steady goaltending. So where does that leave me? With this: White Plains 5, Rye Town/Harrison 3.

No. 12 Sleepy Hollow/Irvington (9-12) at No. 4 Mahopac (5-16-2)
Where: Brewster, 8
Breakdown: How much does center Tyler Perrelle mean to Mahopac? The Indians are 0-8 without him, and he still leads the team in points despite missing those games. He will be there Thursday night. The Legends have a chance to do something I’m pretty sure no No. 12 seed or League 4 team has ever done—make the semifinals. In games against common opponent Somers/North Salem, Mahopac won 6-4 and 10-6 while SH/I lost 7-4 and 5-1.
Prediction: Mahopac is such a young team (15 underclassmen) and I’m not sure how they will react, while SH/I has to be confident after its last two games (winning in OT to make the playoffs and then beating Clarkstown North, both on the road). I struggled with this one more than any game so far. Mahopac 4, Sleepy Hollow/Irvington 3, OT.

No. 8 seed Kennedy/Putnam Valley had only allowed three goals in a game three times this season, and had never allowed four. But No. 9 Somers/North Salem scored three in the first period last night en route to a 4-2 win. Colleague Dan Marra was there.

In the other two games, Section 1’s leading goal scorer, Matt Burdick, scored twice as No. 6 Pawling/Dover beat No. 11 Greeley 5-2, and No. 7 Ossining has now won 10 of 11 with a 2-1 victory over No. 10 Pearl River. Pawling, which uses its depth and physical play to wear out opponents, not surprisingly scored three times in the third period. Meanwhile, Ossining and its next opponent, Rye, may be the two hottest teams in Division II.

So here are Friday’s quarterfinal matchups:
No. 9 Somers/North Salem at No. 1 Pelham, Ice Hutch 7:30 PM
No. 7 Ossining at No. 2 Rye, Playland 3 PM
No. 6 Pawling/Dover at No. 3 John Jay, Brewster 7 PM
No. 5 Brewster at No. 4 Yorktown, Brewster 9 PM

By the way, the Section 1 tournament brackets are now posted on the Varsity Central page . And I didn’t want to forget that Jake Thomases has a story on first-year varsity players that start for playoff contenders (New players feeling the heat), featuring Pelham freshman Gus Harms.

I’ll post my thoughts on the Division I quarterfinals later today, and then the Division II quarterfinals on Thursday. In between I’m heading to the Meadowlands to see former classmates Chris Duhon and Luol Deng play. Just my luck—I’ve never been to a Nets game before, and now I get to go to the first game in seven years that won’t involve Jason Kidd.

Well, if the rest of the playoffs are anything like Monday, we’re in for an absolutely amazing week. All five games today went down to the wire, with two OTs and final scores of 7-6, 7-6, 4-3, 4-2 and 3-1. And oh yeah—the lesser seed won four of the five games.

There’s really nothing like overtime postseason hockey, where every time the puck crosses the blue line you’re wondering if the season will end right there. Stepinac dealt with that for 11 minutes before coming out on top in OT against Iona Prep and winning its first game ever in the CHSHL finals. Here’s my story and here’s some video from staff photographer Matthew Brown. And here is Matt Ng’s story from North Rockland-Mount Pleasant.

Update, 9:50 a.m.: One thing I didn’t have room for in my story, and then I forgot to mention earlier. IP handed Stepinac was too many power play chances, but Stepinac couldn’t really take advantage until the final one. That’s because instead of taking another wild slap shot from the point, Steven Yankowski just lifted the puck toward the goal. It went through traffic and in. Just something to think about.

In last night’s other OT game, E/T/B overcame a 3-0 deficit after the first period and beat Scarsdale 7-6 on Alex Hagen’s breakaway goal a minute into overtime, Steve McCarrick’s first hat trick of the season overcame Richie Prunesti’s season-high four goals as White Plains topped New Rochelle 7-6, and Sleepy Hollow/Irvington won its first playoff game in its second season, besting Clarkstown North 3-1 in the first playoff game hosted by the Palisades.

What an incredible display by League 3/4 teams. Once is a fluke, twice is a coincidence but three is a pattern, and four big games by League 3/4 teams tells you something—not much (if anything) separates the bottom half of League 1 from the top of League 4. I still think Suffern and Mamaroneck make the finals, but really nothing else would surprise me at this point.

I’m actually not allowed to work more than a certain amount of days, so I have to sit out tonight. But intrepid reporter Dan Marra will be at the rubber match between Kennedy/PV and Somers/NS at Brewster, and hopefully we can get some updates from Trinity/Pawling and the Ice Hutch.

Here’s the playoff schedule for Thursday. Some really intriguing matchups. Of course the winner-take-all Game 3 in the CHSHL and the anticipated showdown between White Plains and Rye Town/Harrison, but also a rematch of last year’s surprisingly close game between Mamaroneck and E/T/B, Sleepy Hollow/Irvington has a chance to become the most unlikely sectional semifinalist in a long time, and the two top teams in Rockland get to play again.

I’ll post some previews on Wednesday, and of course by now you should be begging me to pick against your team.
Division 1 quarterfinals
No. 9 North Rockland at No. 1 Suffern, Sportorama 7:30 PM
No. 10 E/T/B at No. 2 Mamaroneck, Hommocks 8 PM
No. 6 White Plains at No. 3 Rye Town/Harrison, Playland 8 PM
No. 12 Sleepy Hollow/Irvington at No. 4 Mahopac, Brewster 8 PM
CHSHL finals, Game 3
No. 2 Stepinac at No. 1 Iona Prep, Murray 7 PM