Two summers ago the Rye Hockey family lost Peter Collins, RHS class of 2013. In his memory, the opening home game has been designated the Collins Cup Game and the Collins Cup is awarded to the Rye Hockey player who best exhibits Peter’s heart and spirit.
By Melanie Cane
Two summers ago the Rye Hockey family lost Peter Collins, RHS class of 2013. In his memory, the opening home game has been designated the Collins Cup Game and the Collins Cup is awarded to the Rye Hockey player who best exhibits Peter’s heart and spirit.
Peter Collins’ spirit was evident on December 9, when the Garnets shut out Nyack/Tappan Zee 9-0 in the second annual Collins Cup Game. Rye scored twice in the first period, four times in the second, and three times in the third.
Senior captain Tommy O’Brien led off the scoring barrage early in the first period. Sean Fitzgibbons shot from the point. The goalie saved it, but the rebound came out to O’Brien who was in the slot and put a laser past the goalie just inside the left post. Thirty seconds later, Theo Berner scored off a rebound from Rocco Macri’s shot. Berner crashed the net and popped the puck into the top right corner.
O’Brien scored two more times in the second period. This was his second hat trick in as many games; he had three goals and two assists in the first game of the season, an 8-1 victory over White Plains. O’Brien’s second goal was a blast from the blue line on a power play. His third was a shorthanded goal during a penalty kill. Owen Beyer stole the puck and slid it across to O’Brien who beat the goalie. The first of Beyer’s two goals was a beauty. He picked up the puck in the neutral zone and danced around a few defenders before deking the goalie and beating him with a backhand.
Macri and Guy Junkins each scored a goal and Danny Bonaventura made four fabulous saves.
After the game Coach Peter Thomas said, “In addition to great offense, the fact that we only allowed four shots on goal and none in the third period says a lot about us. We only allowed 11 shots in the White Plains game and none in the third period of that game as well.”
The Garnets take on Suffern January 6 in their first home game of 2016.
