A hell of a game played by the RVC/Malverne Cyclones ice hockey team Captain Sean Leavenworth against local rivals Lynbrook/East Rockaway Owls, Monday night at Twin Rinks. Scoring 2 goals and getting 1 assist the captain led the team to a 5-2 victory over the Owls. The Cyclones improve to 11-2-2 with 24 points in second place in the Liberty Division of The High School Hockey League of Nassau County. The play that stuck in my head from this game was the end to end rush by Sean Leavenworth who scored one of his goals unassisted. What was even more moving was the piece Coach Steve wrote describing his sons play from the bench, which I want to share with you now. I can only remember one other time when I pumped Sean Leavenworth’s tires on FaceBook so this isn’t a regular occurrence; but I have to comment on what I saw last night. Sean took the puck from the defensive zone hash mark and skated the puck behind the his own net. He surveyed the situation in front of him and took off like a shot from behind the net. He beat the first opposition skater like he was standing still, deked around a second, and twisted another kid around so he fell down on his own blue line. As Sean blew through the high slot the two defensemen elected to try to hammer Sean with their shoulders. Sean slid the puck between one kid’s feet and then jumped sideways in between the two as the space between them disappeared. Then the goalie thought that he could poke check the puck but Sean grabbed it and floated a back-hand shot behind the goalie’s blocker. The puck landed softly against the netting and Sean’s friends in the stands went nuts. Sean rarely scores because he is a “stay at home” defenseman. Nonetheless, what I saw from the bench last night was one of those things that makes a father’s heart swell with pride. A great little piece by Steve Leavenworth, this is what sports is all about and in this case high school ice hockey ! Every parent wants to beam with joy when they see their son or daughter achieve something like Sean did and being able to share that moment with his dad was exceptionally special.