CROSS RIVER, N.Y. -
On Tuesday, April 7, John Jay hosted Carmel at Contest Field, where the cold winds were impossible to ignore. The Wolves, however, wasted little time heating up - and stayed hot the rest of the way.
John Jay struck quickly and never looked back, cruising to an 11–3 victory.
The game opened with the home team winning the faceoff, but Carmel goalkeeper Dom Zaino made a pair of early saves to keep things scoreless. It didn’t last long. Maintaining possession, James Tesi set up behind the net and found Dash Stewart cutting in front. The sophomore finished the play for a 1–0 lead at 9:07.
Just a minute later, the duo connected again - this time in reverse. Stewart drove down the middle and dished to Tesi on the left side. Tesi powered his way inside and buried the shot to make it 2–0.
Carmel won the ensuing draw at 8:13 but struggled to generate offense against a stifling John Jay defense. Dino Rajamani forced a turnover with an overhead chop, and Nicholas Harris scooped up the loose ball to spark a transition opportunity.
The Wolves kept the pressure on. Riley McMahon rang a shot off the post, and Rajamani followed with another attempt that Zaino turned aside. Despite the goalie’s efforts, John Jay’s relentless attack continued.
After forcing another turnover, the Wolves capitalized during a delayed penalty. With the flag down, Tesi found John Hartney set up outside, and his long-range strike at 4:47 extended the lead to 3–0.
John Jay soon earned a man-up opportunity and made it count. Working the ball from behind the net, Hartney fed Harris on the goal line, who quickly moved it to Rajamani in front. His sidearm finish pushed the lead to 4–0 with 2:15 remaining in the quarter.
Carmel had a late chance after winning the draw, but Blake O’Callaghan came up with a key save and controlled the rebound to close out the first.
The second quarter followed a similar script. Carmel again won the faceoff but couldn’t break through John Jay’s defense. The Wolves regained possession, and after several attempts, Tesi curled around the net and scored on a jump-hook shot at 10:17 to make it 5–0.
Moments later, Holden Hughes added to the lead, firing a sidearm shot from behind the cage to make it 6–0 with 8:52 left in the half.
Carmel responded with a pair of goals and later earned a two-man advantage at 6:56. The Rams moved the ball patiently, but O’Callaghan stood firm, calmly snaring a shot to halt any momentum.
John Jay answered immediately. Tesi first assisted on another goal by Stewart, then scored himself with 3:20 remaining in the half after a takeaway by Cody Jones and a feed from Jack Casey.
In the second half, John Jay stuck to its formula - crisp passing, relentless defense, and strong goaltending—effectively putting the game out of reach.
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