John Jay Gets in the Win Column with 12-3 Victory over Fox Lane

After losing their first two games, John Jay fell behind Fox Lane 1-0 on Tuesday December 5 and then went down two men on the power play. But the way the game begins doesn’t necessarily signify how it will end, according to Coach John McKeon. “It’s all about staying composed, getting your feet wet and getting adjusted to the game speed,” the first year coach said, and his sentiment definitely proved true.

John Jay evened the game up and went onto to an easy 12-3 victory.

11 players graduating from last year, it’s a whole new look. “A lot of the guys on the team are really young and on the smaller side. But they are really good players,” said McKeon, who graduated from John Jay in 2018.

Fortunately, there’s still a few holdovers from last year and two of them made their presence felt. The hats a-flyin, Brendan Asta had five goals and Colman Rice had four.

Asta would get the Wolves on the board first. With Hank Heanon scoring at 8:13 for Fox Lane, John Jay went on the attack. They got the puck into the zone, kept the pressure on and refusing to give up the possession, Asta got the wraparound to tie the game at 7:27.

Even so, John Jay got hit with back to back penalties and were down five to three for almost two full minutes. But Erin Samuelson and the defense held, and the boost really put the offense in stride.

First Ryan Hasapis sent a cross ice pass to James DeNoia, and he pulled the trigger to give John Jay the lead. 1:38 left in the first, the Wolves were far from done in the first.

Off the face-off, Rice got the puck ahead to Hasapis, and he came one on one with the goalie. An easy move and the forward had a goal to go along with his assist.

Just nine seconds coming off the clock, John Jay went on the power play a few seconds later. The clock looked like it would get the better of the advantage anyway. But Kenny Irving fed DeNoia in the waning seconds, and he scored with one second remaining in the period.

A 4-1 game, it was Fox Lane that would have the best chance in the early going of the second. Ryan Goldstein got free on the breakaway, but Samuelson clipped Fox’s tail for one of her 21 saves.

So Rice got into the scoring act. Kenny Irving fed Rice, he swooped cross ice and gave John Jay a 5-1 lead at 8:13.

John Jay didn’t need an equal amount of skaters to score either. On the Fox Lane power play, Asta held the puck to the right of the goal, and Rice eventually came free out front. Easy pickins, the shooter found the back of the net at 4:44.

Not done yet, the duo teamed up again 43 seconds later. Irving got the steal in center ice, and getting it ahead, Rice put the puck in on rewind for a 7-1 lead.

Nonetheless, Fox Lane stayed on point and gave Samuelson the business. She gave it right back and turned the sustained sequence into nothing for the Foxes.

Heanon would not be denied, though. He picked up the puck on the right, and on the breakaway, beat Samuelson on the short side at 2:36.

Now 7-2, Rice made sure Samuelson didn’t have to stew for not much more than a minute. He set up in the crease, took DeNoia’s pass and made punching in sound easy. “It’s just staying with it, playing some offense and scoring some goals,” Rice said.

His final goal of the afternoon with 52 seconds left in the second, he passed most of the scoring duties to Asta. The sophomore had a third period hat trick and made not much bother about the outburst. “I just battled hard and played fast,” Asta clarified.

The coach, on the other hand, put more to the tally of his two stars. “They make everyone on the team better,” McKeon concluded.