Mahwah Hockey Wins Big North Green Division Cup

Beating another team three times in one season is never an easy task, but for Mahwah, they accomplished that feat in convincing fashion.

The Thunderbirds dominated their archrival, defeating Ramsey 4-1 to win the Big North Green Division Cup on Friday night.

The two teams twice played to one-goal games earlier in the season, as Mahwah won 2-1 and 1-0.  The top seeded Thunderbirds came in expecting another tough effort from Ramsey but when all was said and done, the T-birds thoroughly outplayed them to take home the trophy.

Mahwah took a 1-0 lead on a Derek Jordan goal in the first period and then turned up the intensity in the second period in a big way. 

Under three minutes in to the second, Luke May went end to end and put one in the back of the net to make the lead 2-0. From there the Thunderbirds didn’t look back.

After beating these guys by one goal two times, we needed to step it up,” said Senior Captain Ryan Magner. “We worried about defense first and we also capitalized on the turnovers.”

The team played a second period that was nothing short of spectacular.  During one sequence, Mahwah goalie Sean Scannell made a dynamic flurry of saves, all without a stick, to keep Ramsey off the board.

Later on in the second, Magner ripped one high glove side to extend the lead to 3-0.  What was supposed to be a nail biter had turned into a blowout. Mahwah even killed off 1:35 of a 5-on-3 penalty, as they cruised the rest of the way.

I’ve never beaten Ramsey before until this year,” added Magner. “There’s that one game that you’ll always remember, this is it, especially after beating them three times.” 

“Hats off to Ramsey, beating a team like them three times rarely ever happens,” said Mahwah head coach Kevin Sabella. “We came out tonight and played a great game against a great team."

In the third period, Ramsey added a late goal by Joey Caffrey, which was the only blemish on the night for Mahwah goalie Sean Scannell, who made 22 saves in the win.

"Sean is a first team all county goalie for a reason,” said Sabella of the talented Junior net minder. 

Scannell was seeing the puck well all night, using impeccable rebound control to keep Ramsey from getting second chance opportunities in front. He was also busy with the glove, denying the Rams any chance of getting back in the game.

With the Big North Green Division Championship in hand, the team now sets their focus on the New Jersey Public-B State Playoffs.

“This is going to be a challenge,” said Sabella.  “Now the bullseye is on our back, but we’ll be ready to go."

If tonight’s performance was any indication, the fourth seeded Thunderbirds, who take on 29^th seeded Parsippany on Tuesday, should be poised for a deep run in the state tournament.