Sports
Ice Cats Advance to Section One Quarterfinals
Mount Pleasant Ice Cats eliminate Nyack/Tappan Zee Ice Hawks from Section One ice hockey playoffs.
The Mount Pleasant Ice Cats (14-4-3), along with its eleven seniors, won its first playoff game as a group, 5-1, over the Nyack/Tappan Zee Ice Hawks (8-12), Sunday.
“They deserve it,” Mount Pleasant Ice Cats Head Coach Erik Kallio said of his veterans accomplishments at the Westchester Skating Academy. “They deserve all the credit."
Alex Demeropoulis put the Ice Cats up early on a Anthony Casario assist. Justin Cassinelli and Brendan Marinelli then provided the help for Ben Scher and a 2-0 advantage entering a second a period that saw Marinelli increase the deficit 3-0. Casinelli assisted on the play.
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"It was one of our better periods of the year," Kallio said of the Ice Cats first period outing that provided leeway the rest of the night.
Chris Kowalchuk’s score less than two minutes before the second intermission slimmed the Ice Hawks margin 3-1, but not without a team effort on assists from Matt Wylie and Corey Aronson.
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A determined Demeropoulis started the Ice Cats' last two-goal-spurt three minutes into the final period unassisted.
Casario backed it up with one of his own on Demeropoulis’s assist for the 5-1 playoff advancing victory.
“We had a good first period. It was one of our better periods of the year," Kallio said. “But we had a lull....so we’re happy with how we established our presence."
The Ice Cats had 14 shots on goal in the first period compared to the Ice Hawks five. The Rockland team stepped it up in the second with seven of their own, while the Ice Cats held on with eleven.
Mount Pleasant kept the momentum going until the end of the third period with 13 shots on goal compared to the Ice Hawks six, totaling 38 and 18 shots respectively.
Kallio’s players head up to the Brewster Ice Arena for a quarterfinal matchup with Mahopac on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m.
Nyack/Tappan Zee anticipates being back in the section one playoff mix next year thanks to a young team that only loses three seniors.
“We’ll be back,” Nyack Tappan Zee Head Coach Mike Hughes said.
