What a difference a year can make. Last year, Fieldston came into Chelsea Piers and destroyed Poly Prep’s defense, surging to a 4-0 lead in the early going. The Eagles would go on to lose the thriller in a penalty shootout, but their offense was definitely not to blame. Fast-forward about 350 days, and the narrative for this year’s game is completely different. Poly shut down the Eagles’ attack, skating its way to a 4-2 victory in the heated rivalry matchup. The score is even a bit misleading, as Poly Prep started the game on a 3-0 run thanks to a pair of goals from senior leader Ethan Cohen and one from another senior, Brendan Reilly. Both Cohen and Reilly are captains for the Devils. Fieldston forward Noah Knopf (V) provided a small jolt of hope for Eagles fans when he hit the back of the net with 1:41 left in the third period, but it was too little, too late. Poly’s Henry Plageman countered with a goal of his own with 1:11 left in the game to make the score 4-1. Karan Reddy (VI) responded for Fieldston by scoring with just six seconds remaining, and that was that.
Give credit to Poly goalkeeper Eddie Futterman, who struggled mightily last in last year’s bout but negated almost every scoring chance the Eagles could muster in 2015.
“Over the past few years, [Futterman] hasn’t played well against us, but this year he really stepped up,” said Fieldston senior Hugh Klein.
While this year’s performance of “Fieldston V. Poly on Ice” might not have served up the same nail-biting drama as last year’s, fans from both schools filled the bleachers and created the same electric environment that made last year’s battle so much fun to be a part of.
