A little over a week before St. Patrick’s Day, the Little Irish ran out of luck.
The Rye hockey team beat Aquinas 4-1 Saturday in Rochester to advance to the New York state semifinals for the first time in 19 years. Despite being outshot 41-21 in the first two periods, the Garnets led 3-0 entering the third, thanks in large part to outstanding goalkeeping by junior Fernando Mosquera.
After eliminating the Section 5 champions, Rye will play Clarence, the winner of Section 4, in the state semifinals at 4:30 p.m. March 14 in Buffalo. The Garnets beat the Red Devils 4-3 in their season-opener on Dec. 5. If they can do so again, they’ll play for the state championship March 15.
There’s a chance the state title game could be a rematch of the Section 1 championship. Byram Hills, which beat Rye 3-2 in overtime last weekend, also advanced to the state semifinals Saturday with a 4-1 win over Section 2 champion Queensbury.
The Section 1 champion Bobcats, and the Garnets, who earned the state tournament’s only at-large bid, will play in the LECOM Harborcenter next weekend, needing two wins to claim New York high school hockey’s ultimate prize.
In Saturday’s regional title game, Rye took control early. Sophomore Colin Nigro scored a first-period power-play goal, with assists from sophomore Will Niejadlik and junior Kai Brittain. The Little Irish had five power-play opportunities of their own, but couldn’t convert on any until the game’s final 13 minutes.
In the second period, senior Jamie Morris doubled Rye’s lead with a short-handed goal, assisted by senior Trevor Dolan. Two minutes later, Brittain made it 3-0, with assists from the Niejadlik twins, Will, and his brother Max.
After Aquinas finally got on the board with 12:56 left, senior Ryan Draddy restored the Garnets’ three-goal lead, scoring an empty-netter in the game’s final minute.
If the name Aquinas sounds familiar to Garnet sports fans, it may be because the girls soccer team beat the Little Irish 4-0 in the state championship game last November. Saturday’s victory came by a similar score, and now the Garnet hockey team will do what the boys and girls soccer teams, and the football team, did in the fall: play in the final weekend of the season, on the sport’s biggest stage.
