Long Beach, Apple Core Fall Short at Hockey Nationals

Two local hockey teams competed on a national stage this week, as Long Beach High School and the New York Apple Core junior 'B' travel teams advanced to the USA Hockey National Championship tournaments.

Though both teams were eliminated, their progress this season revealed a sense of togetherness in the Long Beach community, rallying around these two hockey programs.

Because high school hockey on Long Island is largely a club sport, the school gives little to no funding in many districts. After defeating Arlington for the New York State championship, the Marines clinched a spot in the USA Hockey Nationals in Bensenville, Ill.

To raise money for the trip, the team reached out to Long Beach hockey alumni and also sold 250 raffle tickets at $100 per ticket to members of the Long Beach community. According to Jeanne Radin-Forkin, mother of Marines winger James Forkin, the tickets sold out almost immediately.

"In typical Long Beach fashion, the people came through in an overwhelming rate and we sold all 250 tickets within a week before the boys left for Chicago," said Radin-Forkin.

The team will also be giving back to one lucky member of the community. The raffle drawing will be held on May 1st, with the winner taking home $10,000.

In addition to supporting the team monetarily, their friends, family and fans came out in droves to root them on at The Beach House, where the game was being broadcast.

Though they came up short of their ultimate goal, the Marines advanced farther than any club team from Long Island. In their first year in the Suffolk County High School league, they made a mockery of the competition and cruised to a league title before making quick work of the Arlington Admirals of the Hudson Valley league.

Apple Core Upset in Quarters

The NY Apple Core team entered tournament play in Marlborough, MA as the returning champion and top overall seed. They breezed through the round-robin but were upset by the Palm Beach Hawks, 2-1.

Despite outshooting the Hawks 49-20, Apple Core was unable to beat goaltender Jake Soffer more than once.

"In one-loss elimination format, if you run into a hot goaltender it makes things very difficult with little room to rebound," said assistant coach Jon Sandos. "Their goalie played outstanding. We controlled the pace of play and were constantly pressuring their defensemen down low in their zone but we couldn't solve him and finish."

Keegan Travers, who was also the Marines' captain and second leading scorer this season, notched Apple Core's only goal midway through the second period, which briefly tied the game at 1.

Apple Core did seemingly everything but score with the man-advantage late in the game. Their usually lethal power play was 0-for-7 in the game, including four chances while trailing in the third period.

"On the power play at the end of the game we had a lot of chances," said Sandos. "[We had] a goal post, a few back door chances, even a puck that beat him and slid across the goal mouth. Our boys competed hard until the final buzzer and should be proud of all of their efforts all year."