Sports
Shapiro, Schaefer Lead Hawks to Victory
River Dell improves to an 8-9-1 record and looks toward positioning themselves for the state tournament
With just three games remaining in the regular season, the River Dell Golden Hawks (8-9-1) skated away with a 3-2 victory over Monsignor Donovan (8-6-1) on Sunday to position themselves for a better seed in the state tournament.
After a scoreless first period, the Griffins exploded with a two-point lead courtesy of Connor Grant. But Hawks captain Ben Shapiro answered with a pair of tallies of his own with the help of Thomas Melvin and Eric Banks.
“We always had three guys back on defense and capitalized on our chances.” Captain Ben Shapiro said. “I’m glad I was able to make the impact I did to help out our team win. Every game we improve in some way and in this game we played a smart game.”
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Finishing Monsignor Donovan off, junior Jack Shaeffer with 2:30 left in the third period, netted the puck to finalize the score at 3-2.
“Our team played really well around today.” Captain Connor O’Reilly stated. “It started with Ben Shapiro making some great plays leading to his first goal. Our four defensemen (Parke, Connan, Candrilli, and Melvin played such a solid game and Detitta was great in goal. It made it possible to win the game despite not having our best offensive game. This was a crucial win and the momentum we got is vital to our making states.”
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Goalie Chris DeTitta recorded 18 saves between the posts.
River Dell will play at the Ice House against Hackensack (9-6-2) on Jan. 25, 7:30pm. The Hawks will end their season with consecutive faceoffs with the Clifton Mustangs (5-6-2) on Feb. 1, 7:10pm at Floyd Hall and Feb. 9, 4:45pm at the Ice House.
