And what a choice it made as Sean Kearney lived up to the billing, leading the Stanners to the CHSHL…
Richie Rodgers would love to take credit for it, but it’s the Molloy hockey team, not its coach, that selects the captain at the start of the season.
And what a choice it made as Sean Kearney lived up to the billing, leading the Stanners to the CHSHL Class B championship, the first hockey title at Molloy, and earning TimesLedger CHSHL Player of the Year honors.
Kearney put an exclamation point on a stellar season and solid four-year career by scoring a hat trick in the decisive third game of the CHSHL B championship series as Molloy beat rival Holy Cross, 8-4.
“He earned his ‘C’, not just that night but the entire year,” Rodgers said of Kearney. “He came into this season with a lot of determination. He’s a great kid, a very bright kid who plays an educated type of game and plays both sides of the puck. His determination was contagious.”
Almost more importantly than giving the Molloy hockey team its first trophy to add to the bevy of baseball and basketball awards in the Briarwood school’s trophy case, Kearney silenced those critics who said the Stanners couldn’t win the big game.
Molloy was 0-for-Game 3s heading into the series and fell to Kellenberg in the semifinals last year after walking away with the regular season title.
“It feels great. It’s unbelievable. I can’t describe it,” Kearney said after the game. “We’ll be up on (legendary Molloy baseball and basketball coach) Jack Curran’s wall.”
The speedy senior forward from Valley Stream was sixth in the CHSHL ‘B’ in scoring with 14 goals and nine assists for 23 points during the regular season.
But it was in the postseason where he really stepped up, scoring six goals in the three-game championship series against Holy Cross to earn series MVP honors.
