Massapequa Hockey’s Comeback Falls Short Against Bellmore-Merrick

It was the first time all season that the Bellmore-Merrick Bulldogs had been outshot, held to less than 10 goals and surrendered more than one goal, but it didn't stop the team from improving to 4-0, as they defeated the Massapequa Chiefs 7-6 on Wednesday afternoon at the Cantiague Park Ice Rink.

The Chiefs dropped to 5-2 with the loss.

Mike Tardino finished one goal and three assists for the Chiefs while Joey Bochichio added a goal and two assists of his own.

"We played really well. We put the puck on net and we got good goals," Tardino said about his team's effort.

Chiefs goalie Mike Mottola made 16 saves in the loss.

"He played well," said Massapequa head coach Tony DeMayo of his goaltender's effort in net. "It was the defense, it wasn't the goalie."

Score: Bellmore-Merrick 7, Massapequa 6

Records: Bellmore-Merrick 4-0; Massapequa 5-2

Hero: Bellmore-Merrick anticipated a tough game on Wednesday, and forward Frankie Leavey brought his 'A' game to the ice by netting his first hat trick of the season for the Bulldogs.

"I saw the wide open net every single time," Leavey said. "I was just aiming for the right spot and I got it. I sniped, sniped all day."

The top line's ability to move the puck around the ice was on display all afternoon, like when the dynamic duo of Bobb and Karp did a little tic-tac-toe passing in the Massapequa zone and eventually found Leavey wide open on the doorstep to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead. Leavey acknowledged that his line mates, Bobb and Karp, were a big reason for his output.

"My two line mates got me those goals with very hard work," he said. "We did work, did a lot of hard work."

"We got a great effort out of them," added Bulldogs head coach Chris Patten of his top line. "We treated the first line like dogs tonight and they skated. It kind of just showed that they're our go-to line."

The Turning Point: The Bulldogs jumped out to a big 4-0 lead midway through the second period, but none of that would have been possible if it wasn't for goalie Jacob Smart's acrobatic play in net during the first period.

Smart, a first-year varsity player after playing travel hockey last season, made 10 saves in the first period including several from point-blank range.

"Jacob has been a beautiful addition to the Bulldogs," Patten said of his goalie. "We were very excited that he came in and fit in the way he did. He was the type of boy that as a student and a player that we dream of having."

The six goals against was no indication of the way Smart played in between the pipes, something Patten agreed with.

"Tonight, I told him when he came off the ice, 'This is your shutout,'" Patten said. "… He was very poised because first period he faced a lot of shots, and even at the end he faced a lot of shots. Defensively we have to do a little bit better of a job of protecting him because some of those goals shouldn't have happened if players were properly positioned."

Quotable: "We played okay," DeMayo said. "The defense was a little weak. We've got a new defensive core, a lot of young kids, and that's going to take a little time for them to get adjusted to the new level of the game. It was a good game."

Bottom Line: Despite the loss, the Chiefs showed a ton of resilience and got several good efforts, including one from Tardino.

"Mike's always a top scorer," DeMayo said. "He's probably got the best hands in the league and he's one of the best players in the league, I would say. I always count on him for a couple of goals."

Tardino got the Chiefs started midway toward the end of the second period when he circled the net on a 2-on-1 and roofed the puck past Smart.

"I just saw the 2-on-1 coming up. I looked up, the goalie was down and I put in the shelf," Tardino said.

"Massapequa's an amazing team," he said. "They've always been an amazing team. We have the utmost respect for Coach DeMayo and the program that he runs over there. I think we're just excited that maybe we can take a step and compete in the league."

Key Stat: The Chiefs were 0-6 on the power play.

Box Score

Goals (from scorekeeper)

Saves