Playing arguably the best team in the state, Suffern, on Saturday November 28th helped Sleepy Hollow/Irvington dominate play on Monday night against former league 1 power house Rye Town Harrison beating them 4-1. Being down 3 significant players with injuries didn’t slow SHI.  Matt Praino, Kyle McGovern, Jake Warren, and Kevin Sullivan all stepped up their game and applied relentless pressure to the strong Rye Town Harrison Defense.  Dennis Sullivan, playing more minutes than he ever has before, threw some thunderous hits and has probably won a spot in the starting defense rotation even when the injured players come back. John Garro again provided a physical presence up front. Our next game is on Saturday, December 5th at the Palisades Center vs Scarsdale at 11am.

Suffern played host to Sleepy Hollow/Irvington’s varsity hockey team Saturday, November 28th in front of 1,000 fans at Sport-O-Rama. SHI was nervous but played well against one of the top teams in the state.  After the first period the score was 0-0.  Half way through the second Suffern scored 3 unanswered goals.  With a minute left in the second Sleepy Hollow’s John Garro scored, assisted by Irvington’s Josh Kaplan.  SHI ran out of gas in the third as Suffern’s 3 lines started to wear on SHI’s 2.  The final was 6-1 Suffern

With a 4-3 win over now 15-5 Pawling, The Sleepy Hollow/Irvington Ice Hockey Legends won the league 4 championship with a regular season record of 16-3-2.
 
Dylan Lacey stopped 10 shots in the 3rd period to keep the Legends in the game.  The Legends were down 3-2 going into the third, but scored right away in the first minute of the 3rd, and again with 4 minutes to play.

On February 9th the merged Sleepy Hollow/Irvington team beat 12-3 Lakeland Panas to take over 1st place in our league.  John Garro had a point on every goal, 2 goals and 2 assists and Dylan Lacey made 16 saves as we won 4-1. We have now improved to 11-3-2 while Lakeland Panas is 12-4.  So we are tied, but we won both of our games against Lakeland Panas, so we own the tie breaker and are in First Place

The Legends are have already won as many games as they ever had in their 3 year existance as a combined Sleepy Hollow/Irvington team. The young team that was taken over by Howie Weiner and Dennis Sullivan Sr. went from a losing year in year 1, a .500 team in year 2 and are currently at 10 wins 3 losses and 2 ties in year 3. The kids are finally coming of age, and while there are still only 4 seniors and 2 juniors on the team, the team is no longer a bunch of 8th graders and freshman.

One Player that has progressed nicely is sophmore John Garro. he went from 1 goal his first year to 9 last year and this year with half a season to go he is already at 12. Dylan Lacey has been the starting goalie for the past 3 years. Now as a senior he is leading the league in almost every goaltending category. The top rookie so far has been Kyle Mcgovern. Although he is the son of a coach, the jump from varsity was very tough for him, but he has now adapted and has become a 1st line player for the legends. He also scored a highlight reel goal against New Rochelles Danny Felieu who is one of the top goalies in the county. Sophmore Dennis Sullivan has been coming along nicely, and has been the Legends go to player when the games start getting physical. Known for his toughness along the boards and in the corners, Sullivan has also pitched in with a few goals and assists this year. Other youngsters Jake Warren, Tim Pepe, Jimmy Bender, and Matt Praino, have been progressingly nicely as the Legends have been getting more practice ice time this year thanks to the support of both Sleepy Hollow and Irvington schools. The investment has been rewarded as all 4 players have gotten more playing time as the year has progressed, and Matt Praino was a big help last night as the team, which hasn’t always had sucess scoring, turned in a big 7 goal output against Fox Lane last night, with Matt popping in the 3rd of the game.

The Legends have 6 more games in the next 12 days, and start the playoffs Feb. 23rd

The Varsity Ice Hockey team started off the season vs. Nyack/Tappan Zee.  Led by the Irvington’s Pesce brothers Brett and Bradlee who combined for 7 goals, we won our first game 10-2
 
Up next was rival Ossining.  Dylan Lacey (Sleepy) was the difference in net, as his 23 saves were enough to hold the 3-2 lead.  Ossining right now, has 5 wins and 1 loss.  Their only loss coming to us.
 
After Ossining was an even bigger rival……..Mt. Pleasant.  Mt. Pleasant thought they got the better end of the deal when they initiated the break up of the old Irvington/Briarcliff, and Sleepy Hollow/Edgemont/Vallahalla mergers.  Plucking Briarcliff and Vallahalla to join with Pleasantville and Westlake to form a Super team.  However, 2 years of domination by the Sleepy Hollow/Irvington Legends proves otherwise.  Sleepy’s John Garro started off the scoring and finished with a goal and an assist, and Sleepy’s Dennis Sullivan added his first goal of the year as the Legends dominated Mt. Pleasant by a score of 6-1 outshooting them 38-8.
 
An easy win against Greely followed.  Score was 7-1.  Sleepy Freshman Matt Praino scored the first goal of his young career.
 
Now at 4-0, teams are bringing their best as was the case against Lakeland/Panas.  The Legends needed the Heroics of Sleepy’s Dylan Lacey with 26 saves, and Irvington’s Bradlee Pesce’s game winning goal to sneak past L/P 3-2
 
The most Recent game was against Carmel.  The Legends would post their first shutout behind Irvington’s Mitchell Shinderman.  Irvington’s Craig Halpin had 4 assists and Sleepy’s John garro had 1 goal and 1 assist in a 6-0 win.
 
The Legends are 6-0 with tough tests this weekend against Byrham Hills Friday, December 19th and JFK on Sunday, December 21st.

The Saturday game against Pearl River has been postponed until February 4th due to the death of a former Pearl River hockey player.