Club Hockey saw their first season under coach Anthony LoBianco end in the first round of the SECHL Playoffs in a 6-2 loss to #3 seed Clarkson. Coming into the game as the lowest seed in the bracket, their slim hopes of making a run at their first championship win since 2013 were dashed.
The odds were stacked against Marist before the game even started. Not only were they the lowest seed in the playoffs, but they were also without head coach Anthony LoBianco due to health reasons. Due to this, assistant coach Tristan Schoberle and general manager Randy Hurlbert had to step up in his absence. Schoberle and Hurlbert gave their best efforts to fill Lobianco’s shoes in the loss.
“Lobo’s hard to replace,” said Schoberle, “but the boys had my back, and I think they would’ve given a good fight regardless of who was behind the bench.”
“It was definitely different, but we gave a good effort either way,” said defenceman Nolan Faherty, “it’s tough not having him but we still battle.”
Despite the loss, the Foxes didn’t go down without a fight, even though the scoreboard may say otherwise. Going down 2-0 in the first and 4-1 in the second, Marist refused to let the game get away from them, keeping the Golden Knights off the board with gritty play, forcing turnovers and matching the physicality, topped by scoring timely goals to keep the game close. It wasn’t until the final moments where Clarkson scored two more goals that finally put the game out of reach.
“I think the boys wanted to prove a lot of people wrong, and I think they did,” said Schoberle, “we fought hard, did what we had to do, it wasn’t the outcome we wanted but I’m proud of how the boys worked.”
“We battled. We’re a family here. We gave it all for our seniors. I’m honored to have played with these guys,” said Faherty.
In the loss, freshman forward Alex Armada was all over the ice for the Foxes. Armada was named an SECHL Rookie of the Year runner-up, and he had the winner in defensemen Griffin Shaheen across the ice from him. Armada showed up when it mattered and got the better of the matchup, docking an assist and making multiple big plays for the Foxes, from getting the puck deep to forcing turnovers. He capped off a strong rookie campaign with a stellar game even though his team was on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
“You got two young guns trying to prove themselves and go at it, and it’s always good,” said Schoberle, “Armada’s been a huge part of the team, he’s effective every time he’s out there.”“It just came down to the team mostly, getting a win for the seniors,” said Armada, “it’s easy to play hard for these guys.”
Marist’s poor special teams play was one of the deciding factors in the defeat. Despite having multiple power plays and staying out of the box for the most part, the Foxes could only convert on one and even surrendered a short handed goal.
Ty Hlywa of Clarkson played a huge role in ending Marist’s season. Hlywa, Clarkson’s leading goal scorer, had two goals and one assist, being a decisive factor in the game and sending Clarkson to the next round. His empty netter at the end was the final nail in the coffin for the Foxes
Clarkson dominated most of the first period, putting the pressure on Marist in the offensive zone, but the Foxes played well enough defense to deny most quality chances and graduate student goalkeeper Anthony Russo looked solid to start.
Marist would find some chances of their own after senior forward Christian Wilde would launch the puck down the ice to junior forward Sean Bruno for the breakaway, only for it to be shut down by goaltender Colby Barley. Marist would also force turnovers to get their offense going, despite it not amounting to any goals, and their dump-and-chase strategy would be a positive, as they were skating well.
After junior forward Tyler Stoneman took a penalty for interference, Clarkson would get on the board on the tail-end of their power play with Brighman Douby finding a loose puck and passing it to Aidan Aldous for his first goal of the season. They would then add another goal after Thomas Brauer found Hlywa for his 20th goal of the season. Clarkson would go into the locker up by two.
The second period would start with action on both sides, with both Clarkson and Marist finding golden scoring opportunities, only to be shut down by both Russo and Barley. The Foxes would continue to skate well, beating the Golden Knights to loose pucks and negating multiple icings when dumping the puck. Despite being down, Marist let Clarkson know they weren’t a pushover.
The Foxes would begin to punch back with Armada shooting out of a cannon to steal a puck off a faceoff in Marist’s zone, then starting an odd-man rush with junior forward Kyle Butchyk, who backhanded it in.The Foxes would begin to pick up their pace of play and work to claw themselves back into the game.
The Foxes would find themselves a 5-minute power play after Luke Miller cross-checked sophomore forward Jonathan Martirano, resulting in his ejection, but nothing would come of it. Despite the poor special teams play, the Foxes were still playing hard and Russo was coming up big when it came down to him.
Clarkson would strike again in the final seconds of the period when EJ Miller would score off a rebound off Russo’s pads from a slapshot from Hlywa. The Foxes would find themselves right back where they began the period heading into the locker room.
The third period saw Clarkson up more pressure, but the Foxes were able to hold on thanks to efforts by Russo. His efforts wouldn’t be enough as Dubey would steal the puck from Butchyk in the neutral zone and drive it past Russo to put the Golden Knights up three.
Just when they thought they were out, the Foxes would pull themselves right back into the game on a 4-on-3 powerplay, where sophomore defenseman Matt Sacco would find junior defenseman Richie Williams off the faceoff and Williams would rip a shot past Barley to cut the lead back down to two.
Clarkson would then ice the game late with goals from John Westrick and Hlywa, putting an end to Marist’s season.
Clarkson will now face #2 seed Sacred Heart for a chance to go to the SECHL Championship game, and the winner of #4 Siena vs #5 Montclair State will go on to face #1 Army. As for Marist, they’ll have to wait until next season.
Edited By August Lieberman
Photo Credit: Kira Crutcher
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