Long Beach Hockey Routs Connetquot-Sayville

It may have been frigid outside, but the atmosphere inside the Long Beach Arena was downright cozy as Long Beach skated past the Connetquot-Sayville T-Birds 10-4 on Monday night before a crowd of 375.

Team captain Keegan Travers scored a hat trick, and Jimmy Diamond netted a pair as the first-place Marines improved to 13-2 in SCHSHL play. Frank DiChiara led the T-Birds with a pair of goals and an assist. 

With local television covering the game, both teams had a little extra jump in their step. Nolan Pues got the Marines on the scoreboard when he sent the puck on net from the right point, and watched it flutter into the net just 1:20 into the game. With defenseman Ambrose Plante unavailable, Pues, who regularly plays forward, filled in on the blue line.

Long Beach goalie Harris Pittinsky was brilliant in the opening period, stopping two breakaways and a couple of shots from pointblank range. The T-Birds, who came into the game with 20 points, just two points out of second place, tied things up when Di Chiara finished off a huge flurry by whistling one by Pittinsky.  

Just moments later, J.T. Forkin took a pass from Jake Shapiro and beat goalie Chris Watts to give the Marines a 2-1 lead at the end of one period. 

Long Beach head coach Joe Brand thought Pittinsky's first period play set the tone. "We do not play well when we have to come from behind," Brand said. "Harris was solid in the opening period, and bailed us out a few times. Our team is built on momentum, firepower, and emotion. If we fall behind, we tend to press, and guys try to do too much."

The second period was all Long Beach. After Pittinsky stopped Di Chiara on a breakaway, the Marines started to pull away. Just over a minute into the period, Travers took a beautiful feed from Shapiro and found the back of the net. Defenseman Hunter O'Neill, who played an outstanding game, also assisted on the goal.

Diamond scored his first of the game off a rebound, and then followed it up with the play of the night. With the T-Birds on the power play, Diamond and Travers did a tremendous job of keeping them in their own zone. Diamond delivered a huge hit in the corner, controlled the puck, and then glided across the front of the net before burying the shorthanded goal.

Nicholas Russo's power play goal off a beautiful pass from Di Chiara gave Connetquot-Sayville some life, but it was short-lived. O'Neill's goal off a terrific pass from Rob Delury gave the Marines a 6-2 lead. Brian O'Sullivan and Forkin both scored late in the second to give Long Beach an insurmountable 8-3 lead after two periods.

 Brand was happy with the effort, especially on the offensive end. "We have been a little banged up, so now that we're healthy, we've got it going pretty well," Brand said. "I thought we could have been a little better on defense, but with the television cameras rolling, I can understand why everyone is trying to find the net."