Pearl River Beats Host Nyack/Tappan Zee In Holiday Hockey Tournament

The Pearl River hockey team scored multiple goals in all three periods Wednesday night to defeat host Nyack/Tappan Zee, 7-2, in the finals of the Nyack/Tappan Zee Red & Black Holiday Hockey Tournament at the Palisades Ice Rink.

“We had a lot of good speed tonight and worked through the center of the ice well,” said Pearl River coach Tony Capone. “We also had excellent puck possession, especially in the third period. They hardly had the puck at all in the third.”

The Pirates (7-1) dominated the puck, accumulating a 39-20 shots on goal advantage against the Ice Hawks (5-5-1).

“Our guys really hustled to the net all night,” Capone said.

Tournament MVP honors went to senior Chris Alexander, who netted three goals and assisted on two more in the championship game. Alexander came into the tournament with a team-high 18 points. Kevin Murphy scored two goals and Michael Henry and Patrick Burns each added one for the Pirates.

The Pirates also scored seven goals in their first-round game, a 7-0 win against Ossining.

“It was a good tournament for the team,” said goalie Lowell Hunt. “We really played well together as a team.”

Mike McGivney and Chris Kowalchuk each scored goals for the Ice Hawks.

“Being our tournament, we were excited to come out and play a tough, physical game,” said Nyack/Tappan Zee co-coach Mike Hughes. “I think a couple of breaks went against us in the first, otherwise we matched them. I think we were just two breaks away from it being tied or down just 2-1 (opposed to 3-1) after the first. We went into the locker room thinking if we could win the second period, we’d have a chance in the third. It just didn’t happen, though. We were shorthanded a bit late in the game and it wore our guys down.”