The Sleepy Hollow/Irvington Legends varsity ice hockey team came up with a big win against Byram Hills Wednesday night January 11th at the Palisades Mall Center ice rink.  After 2 periods of play the game was tied 3-3 heading into the locker room.  Jake Warren scored quickly in the 3rd to put the Legends up 4-3.  After that it was up to defensive specialists Kyle McGovern, Matt Praino and Kevin Sullivan to hold off the Byram Hills attack.  The 3 did such an outstanding job that Byram Hills couldn’t get out of their side of the rink for the last 10 minutes of play. The Legends scored an empty net goal with 1 second left to end the game 5-3.  Next up for the Legends is a rematch against Mt. Pleasant at WSA ice rink in Elmsford, Saturday night at 9 pm.  The Legends won the first game 3-1.

On Wednesday night January 4th, the Sleepy Hollow/Irvington Legends Varsity Ice Hockey Team played their long time rivals Lakeland/Panas.  Keeping up with tradition the game was close and the Legends were able to pull out a last minute win.  An outstanding effort by Junior Defensemen Kevin Sullivan allowed everyone else to concentrate on offense as the Legends were down 2-1 in the third period.  With Sullivan manning the back end, the other 4 Legends players pushed the pace and were able to score 3 goals in the last 15 minutes to win the game 4-3 in overtime.  Jake Warren was a physical presence in the offensive zone, and Kyle McGovern and Matt Praino were flying around causing problems for the Lakeland Defense all game.  Also contributing with key plays were Kyle Pfeffer, Liam Sullivan, Jack Bender, Tim Pepe, Steve Kern, and Liam Sullivan.  Next up for the Legends are the White Plains Tigers in Ebersole Ice Rink at 5:15 on Thursday January 5th.

The Sleepy Hollow/Irvington Legends won the first playoff game Monday, February 22nd defeating Brewster 6-4. The Legends, who are the #4 seed, will now play the #5 seed Pelham Wednesday night at Sport-o-Rama on February 24th at 7:20pm. The Legends were nervous throughout the game as it was the first time ever the program has been a favorite going into the section playoffs. Fortunately the team was carried by its defense last night.  Irvington’s Brett Pesce and Sleepy Hollow’s Dennis Sullivan were absolute monsters on the blueline for the Legends and willed the team to a first round victoy.

The Sleepy Hollow/Irvington Legends split the last two games.
 
On Thursday, February 4th at the Palisades Mall, The Legends came from a 6-3 deficit late in the 3rd period to rally for 4 unanswered goals, beating Clarkstown South 7-6.  Junior Defensemen Dennis Sullivan got the rally going with some timely body checks and Junior Captain John Garro scored the game winner with 30 seconds left.
 
On Saturday night, February 6th, at the Westchester Skating Academy, the Legends played one of their rivals Mt. Pleasant.  Since the Sleepy/Irvington merger the Legends have owned the series 2-0, but this was Mt. Pleasant’s year.  Despite inspired play by Jake Warren, Matt Praino and Kyle McGovern, the Legends found themselves down 3-2 late in the game, and an attempt to pull the goaltender for the extra attacker couldn’t result in any goals and Mt. Pleasant scored the empty net finisher with a second left to play.

On Monday January 25th, the Sleepy Hollow/Irvington Legends played New Rochelle at the Ice Hutch.  In a previous battle, the Legends caught the highly regarded Hugonots by suprise and cruised to an 8-1 lead.  This one was much closer.  The game was locked at 2 until 1:15 left in the 3rd period in which Sleepy Hollow’s John Garro passed to Irvington’s Bradlee Pesce to take the 3-2 lead.  Defensive specialists Matt Praino and Kyle Mcgovern were called on in the last minute to protect the one goal lead, which they did.  Garro, who has been a constant scorer all season, added another 2 assists to his total.  Dennis Sullivan did a nice job on defense containing New Rochelle’s usually potent offense. Our next game is on Sunday, January 31st vs Nyack at Sport-o-Rama at 5pm.

On Monday January 11th at the Ice Hutch in Mt. Vernon, the Sleepy Hollow/Irvington Legends, who were recently ranked 7th in the section 1 coaches poll(out of 29 teams), faced #6 ranked New Rochelle.  The Legends put together a great game and dominated New Rochelle, winning 8-1.  John Garro continues to put up points with 2 assists.  A game after Jake Warren put in his first goal, his linemate Matt Praino scored his first goal of the season.  Dennis and Kevin Sullivan, Jimmy and Jack Bender, Tim Pepe, and Kyle McGovern also contributed to the win. Our next game is on Thursday, January 14th vs. White Plains at Ebersole at 5:15pm.

At the Palisades Mall on January 6th, the SHI Legends defeated Byram Hills 8-3.  Highlights include everyone from the Legends seeing ice time.  A spirited game was played by Jack and Jimmy Bender.  Freshman Kevin Sullivan set up Sophmore Jake Warren for his first varsity goal.  Jake has been playing well and it’s nice to get the first one out of the way. I am sure many more will follow.  John Garro continued his point scoring streak by adding another assist. Matt Praino and Kyle McGovern are developing into a defensive force on the penalty kill and Dennis Sullivan through some nice hits in the game.  Next game is at the Ice Hutch in Mount Vernon, 6 pm on Monday January 11th vs. New Rochelle.

On Saturday night, January 2nd, the Sleepy Hollow Irvington Legends played the #3 ranked team in all of New York State – Mamaroneck.  Mamaroneck proved to be every bit deserving of that ranking.  The game was 1-1 10 minutes in.  Mamaroneck then got 2 quick ones and ended the first period up 3-1.  Mamaroneck had some powerplay chances in the second and cashed in on all of their attempts ending the second period up 8-1.  The third period belonged to Sleepy Hollow/Irvington as the Legends fought back scoring 4 goals in the final period to end the game down 9-5.  Mamaroneck, who lost in the State finals in overtime last year, looked primed and ready for another Division 1 final.  Meanwhile the Legends, because of an enrollment of less than 1,100 play in Division 2, and are using this game as an experience to get ready for their own playoff run.  John Garro continued his strong offensive adding two assists in the game, and Kyle McGovern and Matt Praino played strong physically.  The next game for Sleepy/Irvington is against Byram Hills on January 6th at 7:30pm at the Palisades Mall. 

Sunday night, December 13th at Sport-O-Rama, The Sleepy Hollow/Irvington Legends came out to a roaring 3-0 lead.  Clarkstown South cut the lead to 3-2.  The Legends went back up 5-2.  South scored 3 unanswered goals to tie the score at 5-5.  With 3 minutes to go, Irvington’s Josh Kaplan scored the winner, to make it 6-5.  John Garro had 2 assists, and Matt Praino added an assist for his first point of the season.  Kyle McGovern and Dennis Sullivan played well defensively. Our next game is on Friday, December 18th at Brewster vs. JFK at 3:30pm.

On Tuesday, December 8th, The Sleepy Hollow/Irvington Ice Hockey team played last year’s defending Division 2 champions and #2 ranked team in the State, Pelham.  Sleepy got jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the first.  It was a defensive battle from there.  65 shots on goal and a 5 minute overtime resulted in a 1-1 tie.  Kyle McGovern played a key defensive role in the game as did Dennis Sullivan.  Matt Praino was a physical force, playing his best game as a varsity hockey player. Our next game is on Sunday, December 13th at Sport-o-Rama vs. Clarkstown South at 5pm.