Sports
Hawks Ice the Competition, Improve Season to 3-2
The River Dell Golden Hawks split their wins over Jefferson and Passaic Valley with a loss to Ridgewood
HACKENSACK - The River Dell Golden Hawks stole a win against the Passaic Valley Hornets on Sunday evening by 4-0 and improving their season record to 3-2. The Hawks split their previous two matches with a win over Jefferson but lost to Ridgewood.
“We knew coming into this we needed a win” senior captain Ben Shapiro said. “We came out a little slow in the beginning, and then we started to pull it together. We had some great sophomores really stand up this game.”
Shapiro led the Hawks with an early first period goal and junior Greg Rassam followed to give River Dell a 2-0 lead over the Hornets to end the first period.
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During the second period, Rassam scored again and Shapiro netted the winning shot late in the third to secure the 4-0 victory.
“I am happy to be back, and to have a positive impact on my team,” Shapiro said. He added that the credit goes to his teammates. “Connor O’Reilly is one of the most dominate goalies in our league and having him back in net is a great feeling when other teams get their chances.”
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Senior Captain Connor O’Reilly shared “It always feels great to be able to take some scoring pressure off of our offense and when our defense helps me out like they did tonight it makes my job as the goalie a lot easier.”
Previously River Dell rode to a 5-2 victory late in the third period against Jefferson on a pair of powerplays (Thomas Melvin and Shapiro) and one shorthanded goal (Nick Park). Shapiro and Brett Connon led the Hawks onto the board against the Falcons.
The squad fell to Ridgewood 6-0 on Friday evening as alternate goalie Chris DeTitta recorded 23 saves in the cage.
Things are looking strong so far for the Golden Hawks who are grateful that they have each other’s back and hope to keep their momentum going.
River Dell will face Ridgewood on Friday, 5:35pm at the Ice House in Hackensack for a rematch of their shutout loss to the Maroons.
Editor's Note: Isabella Congemi is a student in the River Dell High School Senior Options Program.
