Bellmore-Merrick Hockey Improves to 10-0

One night after scoring a season-high 14 goals in a win over Bethpage, the Bellmore-Merrick Bulldogs put up a season-low four goals, but still prevailed 4-1over the Cold Spring Harbor Seahawks.

Bellmore-Merrick came firing out of the gates, but couldn’t get anything past Cold Spring Harbor goalie William Beuerlein and for the first time all season, the Bulldogs were held scoreless in a period.

“I think we started off a little sloppy, but as the game went on we got better,” defenseman Nick Abbene said after the game. “We just grinded it out. We moved the puck, started getting more in tune with each other because of the long breaks and we just started playing better.”

After Bellmore-Merrick goalie Smart made stop on a breakaway the Bulldogs took the puck and went the length of the ice. Eventually Frankie Leavey buried a pass from defenseman Zachary Schneider to put the Bulldogs up 1-0.

Leavey finished with a goal and an assist and Smart stopped 14 shots to pick up the win.

Score: Bellmore-Merrick 4, Cold Spring Harbor 1

Records: Bellmore-Merrick 10-0-0; Cold Spring Harbor 5-8-1

Hero: Abbene scored a beautiful goal just over three minutes into the third period, but his play on both sides of the puck was impressive.

“He’s just so fast,” Smart said of Abbene’s play. “I don’t get worried at all once he starts skating up to the opposing zone. He’s very good.”

The junior defenseman broke up several plays on defense and carried the puck with ease to set up a few plays of his own on offense.

“Nick’s been on the team since he was a freshman and this was the first year he’s transitioned back to ‘D’ for us, and we couldn’t be happier,” Bellmore-Merrick head coach Chris Patten said. “Last night he was solid defensively, he made a beautiful diving play on a 2-on-1. It’s like having that fourth forward out there and even when he goes in, we know that he can get back.

Turning Point: With the Bulldogs leading 2-0 entering the third period the Seahawks were skating well and looking to cut the lead in half, but Abbene had other plans.

After skating end-to-end, Abbene held onto the puck around the Cold Spring Harbor net and waited until he found an opening. He found that opening on a hard wrist shot that went just over the Beuerlein’s shoulder and into the top of the net to extend the Bulldogs’ lead.

“The goalie dropped his shoulder a little, so I saw a little opening and shot it.” He said. “I was hoping for a rebound if it didn’t go in, but it went over his shoulder and went in.”

Abbene added: “When I get the puck I’m just looking to make a play. If somebody’s open I’ll pass it to them, if nobody’s open I’ll just take it, try and hold onto it and just move it around. … If I get the opportunity to shoot or if somebody’s giving me space, I just shoot.”

Quotable: “The defense played great,” Smart said. “Overall it was just a great team effort. Even though our offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders as they usually are, the defense was able to stand tall.”

Bottom Line: It has been almost customary for the Bulldogs to score more than 10 goals every night. Being shut out in the first period was a different feeling for the team, but Smart’s play in between the pipes kept Bellmore-Merrick in the game early. 

“Backwards to forwards, I thought it all started with Jacob Smart. He played big when he needed to play big,” Patten said.

The defense also had a big night for the Bulldogs. On top of Abbene’s play, defensemen Aiden Cooper and Michael O’Byrne made timely pinches at the blue line and kept a number of offensive plays alive. O’Byrne also dished out several hits and made life very uncomfortable for the Seahawks when they had the puck.

“They pinched when they need to pinch and they came back when they needed to play back,” Patten said of his defense. “They played solid tonight, all three pairs.”

Key Stat: The Bulldogs have scored 96 goals in 10 games this season.

Who’s Next? Tonight, Bellmore-Merrick vs. East Williston (Town of Oyster Bay Skating Center in Bethpage), 7:30 p.m.

Box Score