The Randolph Boys Ice Hockey team beat Morris Knolls in a 9-4 landslide on Monday, Dec. 11 at Mennen Arena, bringing the Rams’ early-season record to 2-0.
“I think we worked harder as a team and worked to get more shots when it really mattered,” senior captain Ashton Feinberg explained. “The team worked to the very end; even when we were up, we continued to play defense until the final buzzer.”
Morris Knolls initially took the momentum of the game, scoring within the first five minutes. Junior captain Jase Zangara quickly responded, scoring on a power play assisted by sophomores Vincent Crisafulli and Daniel Sharkey.
Knolls scored once again on a power play, ending the first period 2-1.
“Our mindset going into last night’s game against such a rival was to go in there and take care of business,” junior captain Brian Cislo reflected. “We had multiple grueling days of practice in preparation for Monday’s game. We all knew what was at stake and everybody had the same goal in mind.”
Our mindset going into last night’s game against such a rival was to go in there and take care of business.”
— junior captain Brian Cislo
The Rams took the lead starting in the second period, with a goal from sophomore Shane Melly, followed by another goal by Zangara.
Morris Knolls answered, scoring two more times before the end of the period, leaving Randolph trailing at 3-4.
“I feel that nothing needed to be said, and we all knew what we had to do, and that was to win the game,” junior Drew George said. “Our coach is always great with getting us fired up; we really took the energy we had and put it all on the ice.”
The third period is when the momentum of the game shifted significantly. George scored to start the period and tie the game.
Melly tacked on another goal to help the Rams take the lead. Randolph was on a roll, with goals from junior Jacob Campbell, Zangara, George and sophomore Ryan Thomas.
“From the first two periods to the third period we almost looked like a different team; once we started to put our shots on net, opportunities kept presenting themselves,” Cislo concluded. “We seemed to have almost flipped another gear on that helped us excel through the third period and put away Knolls.”
Randolph takes on Madison next, on Thursday, Dec. 14, at Mennen Arena.
