On Saturday afternoon, just across the St. Lawrence River from Ottawa, the Rye boys’ hockey team fell to Ogdensburg Free Academy 3-2 in the opening round of the state tourney.
The teams were meeting for just the second time ever in the first round of the New York State Division 2 tournament. In the tourney, teams often must travel the state to meet their competition. And this time it was the Section 1 champion Garnets’ turn to make the 6.5-hour trip north.
The Garnets also faced the prospect of skating against Ogdensburg (20-2) on their home ice, The OFA Golden Dome, which was packed with hundreds of adoring, chanting fans.
Rye senior Tyler McDermott started the scoring on a first-period power play to give the Garnets an early lead. Ogdensburg senior Lorenzo Rand answered with just under three minutes to go in the period to level the score 1-1 after the first intermission.
Halfway through the second period, the Blue Devils jumped in front 2-1 with a shot that snuck past Rye goaltender Fernando Mosquera. But with just 22 seconds left in the period, and Ogdensburg on a power play, McDermott pounced on a loose puck and netted a short-handed beauty (his seconds of the game) with just 11 seconds to go in the period to knot the score at 2-2.
That was all the scoring Rye could muster though. And with 11:45 to go in the third, the Blue Devils scored the winning goal and held on to edge the Garnets 3-2.
