On January 23rd, the Harvey Hockey team traveled to Hartford, CT to play the Kingswood-Oxford School. However, the bus was not the usual party-like atmosphere that comes from leaving school early to go take on a league rival. The team was missing sophomore defenseman Tommy Pennisi, who has been an anchor to the team since he hit the ice last year. Early that morning, Tommy lost his brother Joe to cancer. I am sure that a lot of the character traits that Coach Morse and I respect in Tommy, and the reasons why his teammates look up to Tommy, are because of the influence that Joe had on him as an older brother and role model.

It seems irrelevant, but Harvey lost 4-0, and they gave 100% every shift. The score was tight at 2-0 until the third period, and by the end of the game there were only four players on the Harvey bench. Ricky Schulman went down with a wrist injury on his first shift, and Sean O’Brien got a game disqualification for a hit from behind. The team rallied in the absence of Tommy.

The Harvey Middle School White basketball team fell to 1-1 after a 32-28 loss to Rippowam. Seventh graders Dan Del Bello and Armando Vasquez played extremely well at the forward position for the Cavaliers. Sixth graders Alex Bank, Gracie Tow, Julia Peraglia, and Philipe Deihle made significant contributions in their first basketball game for Harvey. Nic Figari led the team in scoring, while AJ Tisi played outstanding defense.

On January 18, the Cavalier s lost to visiting Oakwood Friends 69-57, falling to 5-4 on the season. Shots did not fall in the first half as the boys fell behind 39-28. In the second half, Matt Bowser, Jon Jackson, and Miles Johnson hit on some long-range shots to keep the score close. Alain Rwabukamba pulled down 7 rebounds. Scoring leaders were Jon Jackson (13) Tre’ Wilson (11), and Miles Johnson (9).

On January 18, the Cavaliers beat St. Thomas More 4 - 2 to clinch their season series 2 - 1. After losing to St. Thomas More in their home holiday tournament, it was clear that the Cavaliers had something to prove.

Sean O’Brien opened up the scoring in the first period on a hard-working rebound goal with an assist from Ricky Schulman. In the second period, Justin Edelstein scored a goal assisted by Tommy Pennisi and Porter Williams. The game remained 2-0 through 2 periods and the fans enjoyed a close game, filled with some scrappy play and big saves. Jason O’Brien ultimately saved 32 of 34 shots.

1:21 into the second period, St. Thomas More proved that they were not going down easy by scoring a goal on transitional odd-man rush. Gathering themselves and doing a decent effort of staying out of the penalty box, Harvey answered with 2 more Justin Edelstein goals. (more…)

Looking for its 6th win of the season, the Cavaliers could not find the basket during the 1st half and fell 20 points behind near the end of the 1st frame. For any other team, 20 points might be an insurmountable deficit, but not the Cavaliers! They kept chipping away and found themselves only one basket behind in the final minute. Unfortunately, the Cardinals made their free throws and the team fell short by 4 points. But the boys exploded for 48 points in the 2nd half, a season high! Once again 11 different players scored, led by, Jon Jackson (13), Tre’ Wilson (11), Phil Porter, Alain Rwabukamba, and Connor Welles (8 each), and Andrew Hernandez (7).