HACKENSACK—They may have opened the season at 1-11, but the concept of having nothing left to play for is one that’s lost on the River Dell hockey team.
Entering Sunday night’s rematch with , the Golden Hawks were riding high with wins in two of their previous four games.
River Dell was eager for a second crack at a team that had only beaten them 1-0 on the opening night of the season, but couldn’t overcome two Fair Lawn goals in a 16-second span of the first period, and dropped a 5-1 decision at the Ice House to fall to 3-16 on the season.
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“It’s been a tough season, but we haven’t given up yet and we’re not going to,” said senior co-captain Mark Schaefer. “We didn’t play to the same level we did on opening night [against Fair Lawn]. I don’t know why. Maybe our morale isn’t as high as it was then, but we’ve got four games left to figure it out.”
River Dell trailed 2-0 after the first period, but showed plenty of determination in getting back into the game on a goal by Bryan Codner with 4:35 left in the second period. The one-goal margin, however, was short lived, as Fair Lawn’s Justin Ritter responded just 24 second later to restore the Cutters’ two-goal edge.
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Fair Lawn opened the scoring 6:09 into the first on a seemingly
harmless wrist shot that managed to elude River Dell goalie Chris Detitta and just trickle in. On their next rush up the ice, Fair Lawn’s Kevin Carney roofed a slick backhander to Detitta’s short side.
For a team that has struggled to the level River Dell has this season, even a 16-second letdown was too much to overcome.
“That was one of the most complete games we’ve played this season, and we knew it was key for us to get out in front tonight,” said. “We understand that River Dell is a team that has struggled this season, and if we jumped out to an early lead that it was going to be a long climb up a mountain for them to get back in the game.”
River Dell’s last real gasp might have been a semi-breakaway by Jason Conroy that Fair Lawn goalie Josh Sarna speared with his glove hand three minutes into the third period.
Those are the kind of plays Fair Lawn will need to extend its season. The Cutters, who got a third-period goal and two assists from Jon Polyak, are now 9-7-1 and need to win two of their remaining five to secure a berth in the state tournament.
