Clockwise from top left, Jack Hartney eyes a play. Dylan Geary clears for Horace Greeley/John Jay. Horace Greeley/John Jay teammates mob Ryan Marcus after he scored the game-winning goal in victory over Byram. Brendan Asta carries into the zone on his way to scoring game-tying goal. James DeNoia beats a defender and leads fast break up the ice. Jim MacLean Photos
By JIM MACLEAN
In a span of three minutes, a hockey team was born.
That’s what it took for a bunch of players thrown together at the last minute to discover the potential of what they can accomplish together.
Hard to believe that just a few weeks ago members of the John Jay ice hockey team were wondering if they would even have a chance to step on the ice. Their season was in jeopardy without enough players to field a varsity team.
Enter former rival Horace Greeley, another team low on numbers, and a merger was hastily arranged. Two teams trying to become one in a matter of weeks, thrown into the fire to take on defending Section 1 champion and New York State finalist Byram Hills on Dec. 5, at the Brewster Ice Arena.
Byram was in control, looking like a defending championship team building a 4-1 lead. And then came the third-period, and something happened, something clicked, and a bunch of ice hockey players wearing old jerseys because their new team ones have not even been printed yet, found the net and found their potential as Horace Greeley/John Jay scored three goals in the final three minutes for a thrilling 6-5 victory.
“That was fun, definitely the underdogs, they were second in the state, and considering we had five kids at the start of the season and then were able to combine with Greeley and it’s been a great experience in just a couple of weeks,” said John Jay senior captain James DeNoia. “Just to be able to put this jersey back on, as of now our away jersey’s are John Jay and home is Horace Greeley, and to come in here and win this game like that. This is huge to beat Byram. This will push us together as a team and I can’t wait to see what we can do. This is just the start.”
A pretty impressive start, especially when you consider what the team has been through just to have the chance to get out on the ice and have a season.
Horace Greeley coach Dan Perito admits it has been a busy couple of weeks to make the merger happen, but the results in that third period show why it was worth it and what the team is capable of doing on the ice.
“The hockey part has been pretty easy, a lot of these guys play together on club teams so they know each other, but the logistical stuff has been difficult, we have new uniforms still coming in, the busing and practice schedules, all that has been challenging,” said Perito. “Byram is a great team, they’re defending Section champs, so that was a great team building win for us. The boys really stuck together, made some adjustments in the third period and they fought to the end, just a great team effort.”
Byram took an early lead in the first period, but John Jay senior Dylan Geary was able to score a power play goal to even it up at 1-1. The second period was all Byram as the defending champs scored twice to make it 3-1. A quick goal to start the third period and Byram was in control with a commanding 4-1 lead.
And then Brendan Asta got it started for Horace Greeley/John Jay as he raced up the ice and scored an unassisted goal to cut the lead down to 4-2 with 12:49 left to play. Less than a minute later it was 4-3 as Austin Llewellyn scored at 11:57.
The momentum didn’t last long as Byram answered with a goal a minute later to regain a two-goal lead, and the defending champs looked like they would close out the victory settling in on defense.
However, the final three minutes belonged to Horace Greeley/John Jay. Branden Foulks scored off an assist from Jack Hartney to make it 5-4 with 3:07 left in the game, and the bench was fired up.
Once again it was Asta turning on the jets, using his speed to carry into the zone for an unassisted goal at 2:44 to tie the score at 5-5 with his second goal of the game.
“I just wanted to crash the net and get a shot off, went around and put it under and I was happy for our team,” Asta said of his tying goal. “We were all working hard, super hyped on the bench, and we got one in and just kept working. I’m just happy to be playing, and to see how we’ve worked together combined with Greeley, it’s a fun experience and this is a great win for us as a team.”
That set the stage for Ryan Marcus, as he did the same thing rushing up ice past the defense to score the unassisted game-winning goal with 1:07 left to play as Horace Greeley/John Jay held on for the 6-5 victory. Johnny Marlatt made 22 saves in goal to record the win.
“Absolutely beautiful goal by Asta to tie it up, that was a complete momentum swing and our bench was jacked up, and then Marcus with the game-winner on a very similar goal that was awesome,” coach Perito said of the two breakaway goals. “Down 4-1, nobody hung their heads, everybody was talking, saying a long way to go, we got one in and it just snowballed from there. That third period was amazing.”