John Jay Defeats Fox Lane, Winning 3-2

Despite snowy conditions, fans packed the stands at the Brewster Ice Arena Sunday to watch the Fox Lane Foxes host the John Jay Indians at their annual John R. McLaughlin Jr. Memorial game; commemorating the life of the Foxes' first coach and founding father of its ice hockey program.

Coming off fresh loses, both teams hoped to use the game to regain momentum going into the second half of the season.

"Today's so big," said Foxes Head Coach Charles Berger before the game. "John Jay is a very good team with a skating style very similar to ours. We both have great goalies but if we come out flying and take control then I think we can win."

Indians Coach Alex Smith agreed both teams have similar strategies but said it would all come down to which team has the strength to strike first. "Both teams played yesterday," said Smith. "So we'll see who has the most energy."

"We have a strong defense, but we want to hit them with our offense," Smith added.

When the puck was dropped starting the first period, both teams came out skating with added intensity; desperately trying to take control of the tempo and get on the scoreboard first.

One minute into play, however, Fox Lane Center Connor Morris drew a penalty for pushing from behind and gave John Jay a one-man advantage, which put the puck in their hands and in the Foxes' zone.

John Jay kept the heat on for the first half of the period with the help of another penalty drawn by the Foxes' Donnie Castaldo, but with great saves made by Foxes Goalie Cody Williams and good defensive plays getting the puck out of their zone quickly, they managed to escape each penalty unscathed.

The Foxes regrouped with six minutes remaining in the first, hitting John Jay with a couple strong shots. However, there were nearly a dozen missed scoring opportunities, which were stopped by the Indians' defense and goalie Mike Ott.

With less than two minutes remaining in the first period, the Indians' Jack Grimm scored the first goal of the game with an uncanny assisting pass from fellow teammate, Frazier Boswick; who swooped around the back of the net, passing the puck to Grimm with just enough room to sneak it past Williams.

In the second period, Fox Lane had plenty of chances to score, with John Jay drawing three penalties throughout the first ten minutes. But with each opportunity, the Foxes' fast moving offense was met with a stiff John Jay defense.

It wasn't until the last penalty drawn by the Indians' Nate Kaplan for cross checking expired that the Foxes got their name on the scoreboard, with Andrew Bunyan scoring the game-tying goal with less than four minutes remaining in the second period.

The Foxes used Bunyan's goal to fuel their momentum, pushing into John Jay's zone relentlessly. But with each drive into the Indians' zone, the Foxes were met by the Indians' goalie, Mike Ott, who saved the period for John Jay with more than a dozen saves.

With the second period nearly over, John Jay's Mike Skalaski sneaked an awkward goal past Foxes Goalie Cody Williams to put the Indians ahead by one going into the third.

When both teams took to the ice in the third, you could see the fatigue from two straights days of league play eating at them, but once the puck was dropped all that washed away. The Indians used the momentum from the end of the second period, with Frazier Boswick scoring one minute into the third period.

Though down by two, the Foxes weren't deterred. They put the heat on the Indians, pushing into their zone over and over, gaining intensity with each line change. Four minutes after the Indians' goal, the Foxes nearly scored on a power play but Indians' Nate Kaplan made a diving save, stealing the goal away from the Foxes.

The game seemed all but over until the Foxes' Donnie Castaldo made a revitalizing goal with three minutes left in play. Fans stood on their feet as the Foxes made shot after shot on goal, with each one seemingly destined to slip past Indians Goalie Mike Ott. But Ott came through, forcing the Foxes to pull Williams as goalie with a minute left in play to give them a player advantage.

With less than 30 seconds left in the third, Skalaski took control of the puck, skating towards Fox Lane's open net. Right as Skalaski was about to shoot he was tripped up by the Foxes' Josh Wollman, injuring his shoulder while forcing a penalty shot.

The Indians chose Captain Scott Turecamo to face off against Williams, but Turecamo was unable to get past Williams, who made a fantastic save. Seconds later, the game ended, with the Indians beating out the Foxes with a close score of 3-2.

After the game, Smith admitted the win felt good, but went on to say, "We're mid-season and we have a tough game against Somers next week, so it'll be hard to relish this win when we have to think towards the next game."

Ott, though exhausted, was all smiles after the game. He said the game was tough, but added, "We had a strategy. We wanted to go into the game and grind them down. We wanted to get the puck deep and keep it in their zone."

Though both teams seemed to grind each other down throughout play last night, the Indians' early goal and continuous intensity lead them to victory against the Foxes.

After Sunday's game, the John Jay's record is 7-3 while Fox Lane's is 5-3-1.