On a cold, Sunday afternoon in Brewster, the Rye Garnets dominated their old nemesis, the Pelham Pelicans, to capture the Section 1 Division 2 championship, 6-0.
“Pure joy. Elation. That’s what I’m feeling for these boys right now,” said coach Peter Thomas right after the game. “After the Byram Hills game the other day, I saw how focused these boys were on this game. There was no way they were going to let it end any other way.”
Rye carries an 11-game win streak into the New York state tournament quarterfinals. The Garnets will travel about six hours north for a game Saturday against the Section 10 champions, at either Ogdensburg (19-2) or Franklin Academy (13-6-1).
With Sunday’s game tied 0-0 after what was clearly a nervous first period for both teams, Rye exploded for three goals in just over a minute to pave the way to their 15th Section 1 title in school history.
Junior Jaime Morris got the scoring started off a perfect pass from freshman Will Niejadlik. Drew Dolan was next on the board, with help from fellow seniors Dean Kim and Tyler McDermott. An unassisted goal by junior Trevor Dolan made it 3-0 Rye, still with 8:56 to go in the period.
Then, less than 60 seconds later, Drew Dolan scored what will be remembered in Rye hockey circles as “one for the ages.” An unassisted, short-handed, speed-swoop around the back of the net, only to finish top shelf just over the glove of the Pelham goalie. It was by far the goal of the year, and perhaps the most memorable of Dolan’s storied Rye hockey career.
“The Rye vs. Pelham rivalry has been around forever, so beating them any time feels great,” said an overjoyed Dolan, “but to do it in a championship game is awesome. As a senior this season, I’ve seen how hard we’ve worked and how close we’ve all become. We’re all looking forward to continuing this run.”
McDermott slotted an empty-netter late in the third that warranted his do-not-try-this-at-home “moon-walk” post-goal celebration. And junior Cody Greenhaw etched his name in the archive with Rye’s sixth and final goal.
The story of this Section championship game would not be complete without recognizing the stellar goaltending of Rye sophomore Fernando Mosquera.
“Fernando never panics,” said Thomas of his top-tier goalie. “The boys feed off his calm demeanor. He’s the kind of kid who makes every other player better.”
