By Dylan Butler
But a defensive miscue proved costly as John Regan stole an errant pass and walked in and beat Mike Oseback with a backhand, 10:03 into overtime to lift the Rams to a 5-4 victory in front of a boisterous and packed Ice Hutch in Mount Vernon Tuesday night.What made the mistake even more stunning was that it came from Danny Scagnelli, who is considered one of the top defensemen in the league.Two days earlier, the junior from College Point was lauded as a hero, returning from a two-week absence because of a partially torn labrum of his right shoulder to help Molloy (11-8-1) beat Iona Prep in the decisive third game of the semifinal series.”I don't mind Scagnelli making that mistake because he's helped us out so much,' Molloy captain Chris Francaviglia said. “Without Scagnelli, we might not have even been here. He's really good and I trust him with the puck more than anyone else on the team.”For the second time in five days, Molloy will play an elimination game, facing Fordham Prep (24-2-1, 19-0-0) at Murray Rink in Yonkers at 6:15 p.m. If the Stanners can force a third and final game, it would be played at the Ice Hutch Sunday at 8:20 p.m.While Scagnelli's mistake was the most glaring, there was plenty of blame to share. Oseback gave up a soft goal from 70 feet out on Benjamin Hertz's attempted dump in that tied the game at 2 for the Rams after Molloy raced out to a 2-0 lead.After the Stanners went in front, 3-2, Fordham took a pair of penalties late in the second period and Molloy had a two-man advantage for 1:40. But James Shea fanned on an attempt to give the Stanners a two-goal lead while facing an open net.”I think if we got a goal there, we would have locked the game up,” Francaviglia said. “We have to work on it, but we'll get it.””They didn't play better,” Molloy coach Richie Rodgers said. “We made more mistakes.”Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
