Hockey: John Jay Ends Fox Lane's Season With 2-0 Quarterfinal Win

The John Jay Indians dispatched the Fox Lane Foxes Wednesday night with a 2-0 win in the Section 1, Divison II quarterfinal matchup.

The game was a rough-and-tumble affair along the way, with checks and many swings at the puck.

“We were blocking shots, blocking the passing lanes," Indians Head Coach Alex Smith responsed to questions from reporters after the game. He added, in the impromtu Q&A media gathering, that Fox Lane was running its wingers, and that his team had to bottle up the neutral zone.

“We tried to bottle that neutral zone up and we did a pretty good job," he said.

In the stats, the Indians first got on the board in the 1st period, when junior forward Vincent Riocci scored a goal with 9:16 remaining; he got the assist from sophomore forward Jack Grimm. The second John Jay goal came at the tail end of the game - just 29 seconds left in the third period - when junior forward Dan Killea scored with an empty Fox Lane net. Killea got his assist from sophomore forward Fraizer Bostwick.

While the Indians came away with the win, momentum and aggressive play was pretty even, as the Foxes hit 23 shots on goal, to the Indans' 22.

Noting that difference, Fox Lane Head Coach Charles Berger responded to a reporter's question, remarking that if he had been told of his team outshooting 23-22, "I would say ‘All right, I’ll see you guys on Friday.'"

Both coaches noted the performance of starting John Jay goalie Matt Lanza, partciularly his performance as a freshman.

Berger reflected back on Fox Lane's play.

"I love every one of these guys," he said in his media. Berger also noted that while they did not advance in the Section, during the season, “we grew into men, we grew as a family.”

Looking to the future, the Foxes (finishing 13-8-1) stand to lose eight seniors, including notable players such as Joe Corsi, Kyle MacDonald and Donny Castaldo. Berger praised the departing players, saying in the Q&A that "every senior means the world to the team."

Meanwhile, John Jay (now 15-6) has advanced to the semifinal round and will play against Pelham on Friday.

Editor's Note: The initial version of this story spelled Fraizer Bostwick's first name as "Fraiser." It has been fixed.