Catching up with the Titans hockey season
January 31, 2024 at 11:37 p.m.
The Rye Town-Harrison Titans are on a roll. The team is made up of four different schools. Players Max Kulekofsky, Noah Lowenthal, CJ Stumpf, Jared Rosen, Nico Corvalon, Jackson Scala, and Ethan Okun are from Blind Brook High School. Players Billy Villanova, Nicky Villanova, and Messier Mollica are from Port Chester High School. Players Jack Mazella, Max Tse, Tyler Beardsley, Isaac Schultz, Alex Sabino, Julian Gahr, Peter Boraczek, Matthew Marsh, Joey Fortuna, and Zach Davidson are from Harrison High School. Players Sean Mohr, Chris Miceli, and Shuya Watanabe are from Rye Neck High School.
The Titans remained undefeated this season with 12 consecutive wins up until their tough loss on Tuesday, Jan. 23 against the Rivertown Legends, breaking their winning streak.
The Titans started off the season strong with their first win against Cortlandt in the Thanksgiving Tournament. Julian Gahr (Harrison sophomore) had a hat trick (three goals) and one assist, Isaac Schultz (assistant junior captain Harrison) had two assists, Tyler Beardsley (assistant captain senior Harrison) had one assist and one goal, Peter Boraczek (Harrison sophomore) had two assists, Max Tse (senior captain Harrison) had two assists, Alex Sabino (Harrison junior) had one assist and three goals, resulting in a final score of 8-5.
Rye Town-Harrison Titans player Jack Mazella (Harrison sophomore), known as “a key player,” scores on Pearl River on Jan. 21 at Ebersole Ice Rink in White Plains.By Alexandra Steiner
Successfully taking on Mt. Pleasant next, players Schultz, Gahr, Sabino, Beardsley, and Tse netted a total of five goals while CJ Stumpf (Blind Brook junior) got his first goalie point of the season, coming to a score of 5-4.
The Titans then took on Carmel. Schultz once again had two assists and two goals, Sean Mohr (Rye Neck junior) made three assists and one goal, Tse had three assists and one goal, Beardsley had two assists and one goal, Boraczek had one goal, Jared Rosen (Blind Brook senior) scored one goal, Gahr had two assists, and Jack Mazella (Harrison sophomore) had two assists. With 16 saves from Stumpf and six from Jackson Scala (Blind Brook freshman), the Titans defeated Carmel 7-2 and won the Thanksgiving Tournament Championship.
Coach Rich Myers enumerated some of the team's key strategies; “Keeping the game simple, concentrating on the basics, having a fast-paced game, and making sure to not let other teams out of their defensive zones into ours.”
The Titans rolled to a win behind goalie Stumpf receiving his first varsity shutout with 21 saves while taking on Mt. Pleasant for a second time. Beardsley and Tse both had two goals and one assist, Schultz had two assists and Mazella, Billy Villanova (Port Chester sophomore), and Mohr each had one assist.
Cutting it close with a score of 4-3, the Titans defeated North Rockland. Tse had two goals and one assist, Mohr had one goal and one assist, Mazella had one goal and one assist, Schultz had two assists, Beardsley had two assists, Sabino had one assist, and Stumpf made 25 saves.
Max Kulekofsky (Blind Brook sophomore) tallied his first varsity point against ETBE (Eastchester, Tuckahoe, Bronxville and Edgemont) with an assist. Tse has had either a goal, an assist or both in every game so far, and in this contest he delivered a hat trick and one assist, never disappointing his team. Mazella has also averaged at least one goal, assist, or both every game, and this time he had one goal and two assists. Beardsley, another player who has not let his team down, had one goal against ETBE and at least one goal, assist, or both every game so far. Sabino had one goal, Mohr had two assists, and Stumpf realized 20 saves. The game ended with the Titans on top 6-1.
Chris Miceli (Rye Neck sophomore) had his first varsity goal against Carmel. Schultz, Boraczek, Gahr, and Mohr all scored one goal and one assist, Beardsley had two goals and one assist, Mazella had two assists, and Stumpf came through with 26 saves. All that action resulted in yet another win by a score of 7-4.
Next the Titans won by three points against New Rochelle, 6-3. Schultz had a total of four assists and one goal, Beardsley had two goals and one assist, Gahr had one goal and two assists, both Boraczek and Mazella had one goal and one assist. Mohr, Noah Lowenthal (Blind Brook sophomore), and Villanova all had one assist and Stumpf made 21 saves.
Then the Titans defeated the North Rockland Raiders, 3-1. Mohr had one goal and one assist. Both Mazella and Beardsley had one goal, Tse had two assists, Gahr, Schultz, and Sabino all had one assist, and Stumpf made 25 saves.
Kulekofsky netted his first varsity goal and Ethan Okun (Blind Brook freshman) tallied his first varsity point against White Plains. A hat trick was realized by Schultz. Mazella scored one goal and had two assists, Villanova, Lowenthal, and Kulekofsky all had one goal and one assist, Tse had two assists, both Beardsley and Matthew Marsh (Harrison senior) made one assist, and with Scala’s 18 saves, the Titans were once again victorious, the final score being 7-2.
It was like a high stakes dance on ice, the tension flaring, players head to head, the refs having to step in to pull players off of each other. You could feel the pressure, anger, and stress in the air. Both teams put their complete focus into giving it their all, with each trading points for a while, and the anticipation grew more and more intense with each second. Mazella had two goals and assists, both Mohr and Gahr had one goal and one assist, Schultz had one goal, Tse had three assists, and Borazek had one assist. Stumpf made 22 saves. The Titans pulled through the chaos, not giving up one ounce of energy or determination, and triumphed 5-1 over Pearl River.
With the Titans’ impressive 12-0 record being the epitome of excellence, on Jan 23 they faced defeat for the first time this season from the Rivertown Legends. The score was 4-2, with goals and assists from Tse and Schultz and Stumpf making 12 saves.
“Our focus has been off along with our pre-game preparation,” said Coach Myers. “The biggest thing being when we get the chance to put a team away and add on goals we don't and instead we let the game keep close.”
However, the tough loss served as a stark reminder of things they can only improve on. It gave the team, ranked second in Division 1, an opportunity to introspect and identify their weak spots.
The Titans would next take on New Rochelle at Playland on Tuesday, Jan. 30, as their Homecoming game.
Comments:
You must login to comment.