Greeley-Jay Outlasts Byram Hills 3-1

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On Saturday December 13, Greeley-Jay hosted Byram Hills at the Brewster Ice Arena, and at the outset, it was the Bobcats who made themselves at home with a number of good opportunities. But none were converted, and with the door left open, Greeley-Jay came through.

One score in each period, the combined team wiped their feet with a 3-1 victory.

Nonetheless, Christian Cipriano was a one man attack. Off the opening faceoff, he put a shot on goal, hit the crossbar at 15:57 and sent Jonathan Marlett scrambling with a point blank shot three minutes later.

Forcing a power play, Cipriano yielded a little ground to his teammates. From the left side, Zach Yoon crossed a pass in front to Kai Licznerski, but Marlett covered the incursion at 11:22.

Back the other way, the offense got going. Brendan Asta shot from the left traveled high, and moments later, Julian Pedreyra found himself out front with the puck.

Denied, Jay was engaged anyway, and Asta made the rounds to make the point. He circumnavigated the puck from the blue line to the back of the net and all the way around to the blue line again. Leaving the Bobcat defense chasing, Dylan Braun ended up with a slap shot from the left, and on the rebound, Asta put his boys on the board.

In at 7:30, Jay kept coming. Ryan Marcus put two shots on, and Dashiell Stewart charged over the blue line for another shot at 4:27.

Riley McMahon was next, and his shot put Greeley-Jay on the power play. 4:09 left in the period, Frankie Epstein and Stewart continued to pepper Ryan Arcamone and so did some nice pass work at 3:05. Pedreyra hit Asta in stride, but his backhand ran into the Bobcat stopgap.

So Cipriano put his foot down. He slipped into center ice with the puck and put Marlett back in play. Still shorthanded, the Jay goalie had the save and kept the momentum from shifting into the second period.

There, Greeley-Jay continued to roll, and Brady Stogsdill and Asta pushed the pedal. Twice Stogsdill got in close to keep the Byram Hills goalie on alert, and two times Asta shot from the left to put Arcamone’s long range vision to the test.

Of course, Asta’s game could go near sighted too. He got a step to the blue line at 7:24 and made a little crossover move to put a backhand on goal.

Wide right, Stogsdill had Arcamone seeing double. The Greeley Quaker swung across the crease for another tight backhander on goal.

A loose puck in front provided the necessary carryover, though. Stogsdill got there first, and his backhander was good for a 2-0 lead.

4:40 left in the period, Byram kept at it nonetheless. Andrey Pytel got space in the corner and put a perfect centering pass on Nathan Khaldarov at 4:21 But Marlatt was quicker on the stick, and it was the same story when Pytel was point blank 18 seconds later.

Not done, Byram pressure forced the defense into more harried action, and at 1:23, the Bobcats drew a roughing penalty. Still, the visitors were unable to convert and Greeley-Jay entered the third with a two goal cushion.

The most dangerous lead in hockey, Byram followed suit, and Cipriano exemplified the sentiment. Going one on one with the trailing Greeley-Jay defense, the center found space and pushed a tough shot on Marlett.

Still, the Bobcat wouldn’t be slowed. He received a pass on the right and placed one over the shoulder of Marlett for a one goal game at 6:05.

Two minutes later, the lead almost disappeared. Caspar Hamilton hit Mark DeCintio out front, but the golden opportunity went wide.

4:43 to kill, the time got even shorter when Marcus was taken down, and Greeley-Jay went on the power play. Unable to put the game away, even strength was good enough at 1:16. Stogsdill managed to keep Byram from clearing, then stick handled between a pair of cats, and with space, the star of the game was able to ice the victory.

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