Suffern Sneaks by Clarkstown in Gutsy Victory

For one team, it was a chance to burst onto the scene. To show that they belong.

For the other, this was just another game, as they had already cemented themselves as a squad to be reckoned with.

In Wednesday night’s clash between Clarkstown and Suffern, the squad with something to prove took too many penalties, and it cost them a game that would have given them a lot of recognition.

Through the first eight and a half minutes, the game was very even, with hard hits and good scoring chances galore. Then Suffern’s Shaan Greenberg seemed to have broken the scoreless tie with a goal at the 6:34 mark. But the refs waved it off as he kicked it in with his skate.

3 minutes, 12 seconds later, Clarkstown took their first of seven penalties on the night. It took the Mounties just 44 seconds to cash in as Mike Redgate lit the lamp off assists from forwards Dan Demarco and Kevin Hill. The rest of the opening period was wide open, with exciting end-to-end action, but no goals. After one period, Suffern was outshooting Clarkstown 12-7, but there was no decided advantage for either club.

Then came the second period, during which coach Rich Willows’s squad spent about half the period with a man in the penalty box. With Suffern dominating play for the first 2:45, Greg Sanfratello committed the first of his team’s five infractions of the frame. Then, after a great penalty-killing job by his teammates, Sanfratello left the box early causing him to stew in the sin bin for another 1:30. This time, the Mounties’ power play unit cashed in on a marker by defenseman Tom Brennan at 5:11.

At this point, Clarkstown seemed destined for a defeat, with all the momentum on Suffern’s side.

But then just 1 minute, 20 seconds later, Matt Preiss scored a huge goal to cut the deficit in half. Shortly thereafter, his goalie, Tim Cavanagh made a terrific save on Kevin Hill to keep the score at 2-1. Amazingly, Clarkstown committed three more penalties before the period ended, and the Mounties couldn’t find the twine during any of those power plays—a testament to how good Cavanagh was playing. After two, the score was just 2-1 in favor of Suffern, an amazing accomplishment by Clarkstown.

2:14 into the final frame, Tom Brennan went to the penalty box for holding, and it seemed as though Clarkstown, even with all of their penalties, was going to tie the game in the third. But alas they could not, and they soon lost their captain, Steven Marvin, to an interference call at 4:14. However, the PK unit came up clutch yet again, leading to their first quality scoring chance of the period with 8:55 remaining. 52 seconds later, Clarkstown got another power play opportunity, and again spoiled it with a lousy effort. More time ticked off the clock, with neither team getting much of anything going, until Stephen Fish committed his team’s seventh and final infraction with 2:48 remaining. Surprisingly, while down a man, quality scoring chances for Clarkstown, but both were answered by Suffern goalie Nick Modica whose last three minutes of play were nothing short of spectacular. When Coach Willows pulled his goalie with 47.5 left, Modica made save after save to close out the win for his club.

This game was a good lesson for Clarkstown. Even though they lost, they now know that they can hang with the “big boys,” and can potentially beat them if they play smart and stay out of the penalty box.