Byram Hills dethrones Pelham to win first Section 1 hockey championship in program history
BREWSTER – Surprise!
Even the eternal optimists were stunned when Byram Hills stormed back and dethroned top-seeded Pelham on Sunday with a 4-3 victory in the Section 1 Division II championship at Brewster Ice Arena. It’s the first title in program history.
“I think to everyone outside of our locker room it was a surprise,” Bobcats defenseman Gavin Nichols said. “We knew we could take them.”
The Pelicans came in with 12 sectional titles and were the No. 1 team in the state. Another NYSPHSAA championship run was pretty much penciled in. The Bobcats had never celebrated more than a league crown and needed an overtime goal in the semifinals just to keep the season alive.
“I knew we had the talent,” first year coach Patrick Busche said. “I scouted this team before I took this job in the fall and knew what I was walking in to. I knew they just needed simplicity. I knew they could play as a team. There wasn’t much of a culture here and they had some bad seasons in the past, but I knew they had this in them. They have a spirit that is undeniable.”
As expected, Pelham was in control early.
Griff Evans scored a shorthanded goal with 10:48 to play in the first period. Santino Esposito made it a 2-0 advantage with 8:48 to go in the second. The Pelicans narrowly missed on a prime scoring chance that might’ve completely deflated Byram Hills and in a blink, Gavin Nichols was at the other end getting the Bobcats on the board with 5:50 to go in the period.
Ryan Nichols scored 16 seconds later and Zach Marvin put the Pelicans in a 3-2 hole in the final minute of the second.
Uh oh.
“We just needed a spark,” Ryan Nichols said. “One goal got us going, got everyone rowdy and we used the energy to move forward.”
The stress level was building when Evans scored another shorthanded goal to knot the score, but Gavin Nichols stormed into the zone with five minutes remaining and threw a puck on net that rattled off Pelham goalie Luke Fear and slid in.
“I had just given up the game-tying goal and I knew I wasn’t done, so I threw it on net and hoped,” Gavin Nichols said. “We had people crashing and the bounces went our way.”
What it means
Byram Hills is one win away from Buffalo. The Bobcats will host the Section 10 champion, Salmon River or St. Lawrence Central on Saturday.
Player of the game
Gavin Nichols started the comeback and secured the win.
Box score
Byram Hills (18-4): Gavin Nichols 2G; Ryan Nichols 1G; Zach Marvin 1G; Octavius Esposito 3A; Alex Clutier 1A; Erik Cipriano 1A; Avery Tymus 1A; Ryan Arcamone 36S.
Pelham (18-4): Griff Evans 2G, 1A; Santino Esposito 1G; Will Crotty 1A; Luke Fear 20S.
Quotable
“We knew they were a very good team,” Pelham coach Michael Cambria said. “I think they played their best best game and had a little bit of puck luck, but they’re very talented, well-coached and they earned it. They definitely fed off their momentum. Three unanswered goals at the end of the second there, put us in a little bit of a hole.”
“Something I tried to get across to them was the concept of doing it for each other,” Busche said. “At the beginning of the season and in seasons past, when they went down, they would scream at each other. We have brothers who would fight with each other. It’s a matter of pushing through. I said to them in the locker room before we went out, ‘We’re trying to make history. They’re trying to repeat history.’ They’ve been here before, but our guys wanted this.”
“We canceled a game against them earlier in the season, over Christmas, and I kind of think that was a good thing because I don’t feel they were ready for us,” Gavin Nichols said. “They didn’t know what we were about. We knew what to expect.”
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Byram Hills beats Pelham in Section 1 Division II hockey championship
