Despite Strong Effort, Rye Defeats Foxes

The Rye Garnets ice hockey team beat the Fox Lane Foxes 4-1 Tuesday. Despite the defeat, Foxes Head Coach Charles Berger commended his players for their effort.

"I've never been so proud after a loss," he said. "If the puck bounced the other way the outcome would have been different."

While Garnets were not at their best, they still came out victorious.

"It definitely wasn't our 'A' game," said Rye Head Coach Jason Friesen.

Friesen said the first period was the worst of the game, even though the majority of the Garnets' goals came at this point.

 "I think we we're a bit sloppy," he said. "We didn't do the things we wanted to do." 

Rye's Taka Katsuta scored first on an assist from Tommy Sullivan at 11:09 from the top of the ice. Fox Lane's Blaze Vogliano quickly answered back with the Foxes lone goal 40 seconds after Sullivan's to tie the game up at 1-1.

"I think we started right," said Berger.

The Garnets were first to break the tie, putting them ahead 2-1 on a goal from Robert Holmes with under two minutes to go before the first intermission. Sullivan and Brian Powers assisted on the play.

Katsuta then tallied his second goal of the night assisted by Paul Mundinger with 10 seconds left before the intermission.  

"They have a motor that never stops rolling," Berger said.

The puck didn't bounce in anyone's favor during the second period, as the Garnets and Foxes failed to score during the period because of greater defensive efforts on both sides of the ice.

In the third period, Rye Goalie Aaron Rix made key saves on shots from Matt Swanko limiting Fox Lane to a low three shots.

Fox Lane goalie Cody Williams also played well. Williams stopped a crucial unassisted shot from Mundinger with 11:05 to play. However, Rye's Rix and Wilson continued with more saves, and an empty net goal from Powers assisted by Katsuta lead the way to the 4-1 Garnets victory.

The Garnets had 36 total shots on goal with 15 in the first, 12 in the second and nine in the third. The Foxes had 16, tallying eight after one period, three in the second and finishing with five in the third period.

Rye is home Tuesday against Horace Greeley at 7:45 p.m., while Fox Lane plays Briarcliff Saturday.