Ice Cats Hold Quakers Scoreless on Senior Night

Mount Pleasant Ice Cats Ice Hockey has come along way since a 2-2 overtime tie against Horace Greeley Nov. 19.

The Ice Cats have not lost since the 3-2 edger against John Jay Cross River on Dec. 18, for their current 10-game winning streak and 12-3-2 overall record, 3-1-2 in league play.

“We’ve gelled as a team,” Mount Pleasant Head Coach Erik Kallio said of his player’s tremendous improvement since then.

Saturday night was no different as Kallio’s athletes blanked Horace Greeley 6-0 on Senior Night.

Eleven seniors were honored including defenseman Connor Dearborn, forward Matt Maleska, forward Anthony Casario, captain defenseman Brendan Marinelli, forward captain Sam Kolbovsky, forward Joy Li, defenseman Brad Fox, forward Brandon Metzger, goalie Brandon Jampol, captain forward Joe Presta, and defenseman Adam Simon.

With the season not over quite yet, the Ice Cats are not overlooking their accomplishments thus far.

“I think it was not our best game but a good game,” Kallio said. “Ten games is not easy.”

Casario netted the Ice Cats first goal unassisted with twenty two seconds left in a slow first period for the 1-0 score.

“We needed to re-focus,” Kallio said.

The Ice Cats offense exploded in the second with four goals started by Marinelli from junior forward Justin Cassinelli.

Presta then assisted junior forward Alex Demeropoulis on his second of two goals in a row for the Ice Cats 3-0 second period advantage.

Demeropoulis’s second goal at 4:47 unassisted sparked two goals in under a minute which was capped by junior forward Vincent Catucci roughly thirty-seconds later.

Cassinelli then topped his early assist with a score of his own halfway through the final period of play on Demeropoulis’s assist en route to the 6-0 victory.

Shooting and the more experienced Ice Cats strength proved to be challenges for a young Greeley squad with a lot to grow on.

“A couple pucks didn’t go our way otherwise it would have been a different game,” Horace Greeley Head Coach Zach Dargaty.

The Ice Cats out-shot Horace Greeley 12-2 in the first, 12-6 in the second, and 7-4 in the third for 31 total compared to the Quakers 12.

Mount Pleasant finishes out the home stand against Sleepy Hollow/Irvington 9 p.m. Saturday while Horace Greeley hosts Brewster 9 p.m. Friday before traveling to Shepaug 9 p.m. February 18.