Mount Pleasant Ice Hockey returned to their winning ways, 5-2 over Sleepy Hollow/Irvington Saturday, just a day after suffering a 5-3 loss to Eastchester/Bronxville.
It was the Ice Cats first defeat since a 3-2 loss against John Jay Cross River December 18.
“Our effort was there tonight,” said Mount Pleasant Head Coach Erik Kallio about his players' extra intensity in their regular season home finale Saturday at the Westchester Skating Academy.
Find out what's happening in Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manorfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The Ice Cats held their own in a scoreless first period for both squads until Brendan Marinelli assisted Anthony Casario seven minutes into the second for Mount Pleasant's first score.
Five minutes later, Alex Demeropoulis helped Ben Scher slide the Ice Cats second of three period goals past the crease to stretch the Ice Cats advantage to 2-0.
Find out what's happening in Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manorfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Matt Cassinelli’s unassisted goal two minutes later capped the Ice Cats 15-6 shots to sit at a comfortable 3-0 entering the final period.
Scher and Marinelli proved to be beneficial again for Justin Cassinelli out of the break. Matt and Brad Fox were crucial in Cassinelli’s second goal of the game, as well as two minutes later for a 5-0 Ice Cat lead.
The Legends halted the deficit though, with two goals of their own three minutes later as Eli Handler assisted Kevin Halpin for the 5-1 score.
Haplin didn’t stop there, providing assistance on offense for John Garro and a 5-2 Ice Cat eventual final.
Saturday's game was second time the teams met on the ice since December 3, where the Ice Cats prevailed 7-2.
"We've gotten better [since then] and closed the [scoring] gap a little better," said Sleepy Hollow/Irvington Head Coach Howie Weiner.
The Ice Cats finish out the regular season 8:30 p.m. Monday against North Rockland at Sport-O-Rama, while Sleepy Hollow/Irvington heads to Rye Playland for a 6:45 p.m. matchup against Ryetown/Harrison, also on Monday.
Sleepy Hollow/Irvington had 24 total shots on goal, including eight in the first, six in the second and 10 in the third, compared to Mount Pleasant’s 28, nine in the first, 15 in the second and 14 in the third.
Both teams await the results of Monday's seeding meeting which will determine their next opponent and positioning in post-season action.
