West Islip Roars Past Longwood

West Islip Wins First Leg of Back to Back Games

In another thrilling Sunday Night Showdown, the West Islip Lions squared off with the first-ever Longwood Lions Varsity program in SCHSHL history. West Islip’s welcoming committee came out in force straight off the draw. Longwood netminder Christopher Primiani made his first save on the night just fifteen seconds in on a wrist shot from West Islip leading scorer Ciaran Pollard. The Longwood goaltender then fended off a shot from Liam Henshaw on a two on one opportunity for West Islip. Longwood’s defense would collect the puck and clear the zone, but failed to maintain possession. 

After regrouping in the neutral zone an errant saucer pass from the West Islip blue line was batted down by Nicholas Perpall, who would enter the zone on a three on one. The left-handed West Islip forward proceeded to make a cross ice feed to a cutting Finn Wood. The right-handed forward then fired a shot across his body beating the sliding Longwood netminder stick side high. The opening goal of the game also happened to be Finn Wood’s first-ever SCHSHL goal which was assisted by fellow rookie Nicholas Perpall – who recorded his first-ever point at the varsity level. Midway through the first a penalty by Longwood led to a power play goal by Liam Henshaw which was assisted by William Shields and Thomas Albertelli. It was the first point of the night for young Thomas Albertelli who put together a strong performance in his varsity debut. Just over a minute later Nicholas Perpall recorded his first-ever varsity goal, with the lone assist being credited to Jackson Allen. It was Allen’s first-ever point at the Varsity level. Twenty four seconds later Ciaran Pollard scored an unassisted goal to make it 4-0 West Islip. Following a timeout called by Longwood Anthony Frega took over between the pipes for the first year SCHSHL Varsity program. The fan-favorite goalie made several saves early on, but Ciaran Pollard would put West Islip up 5-0 on an unassisted goal with under a minute remaining. On the other side West Islip goaltender Tyler Sapoff made several solid saves when called upon. 

The tide turned in the second period, when Longwood’s Aydan Azmoun sprung Brandon Scheurmann in transition with a great cross ice feed. Scheurmann proceeded to race down the ice and score his first of three goals on the night. The Lions of Longwood continued to press but were stonewalled at every turn by netminder Tyler Sapoff. The West Islip offense continued to create chances but Anthony Frega’s show stopping saves kept the game within reach for Longwood. Then late in the second period a shoving match between Longwood’s Nicolas Gigante and West Islip’s John Kolich turned ugly. Gigante was assessed a two minute minor for cross checking and Kolich a five minute major and a game misconduct for slashing. 

At the start of the third period West Islip held a 5-1 lead but Brandon Scheurmann needed only twenty seconds to go coast to coast for Longwood and cut the lead to three. Midway through the third period the game opened up and rookie phenom Thomas Albertelli netted his first-ever varsity goal to make it 6-2 West Islip. Longwood’s Brandon Scheurmann fired right back on a backhanded breakaway goal to bring the game back within three. From there West Islip began to pull away. A defensive zone breakdown in the Longwood zone gave West Islip a three on zero opportunity which led to Jackson Allen’s first SCHSHL Varsity goal. The four goal lead wasn’t enough for William Shields whose buzzer beater breakaway goal put West Islip up 8-3.

Scoring Summary:

Three Stars of the Game:

With the addition of Thomas Albertelli West Islip has promoted eleven players from last season’s 2-16 Junior Varsity team. Four members of that 2022-2023 JV roster recorded their first ever varsity goals last night for West Islip’s varsity team. Suffice it to say the kids look more than alright. The Lions of West Islip are now 3-3 on the season but Ciaran Pollard’s squad still has a daunting challenge ahead of them. Getting back to .500 is one thing, but beating the defending champion St.Anthony’s Friars just twenty-four hours later is an entirely different beast. Look for Pollard and West Islip to try to knock off the champs TONIGHT at 9:40 PM at the Rinx. 

The inaugural Longwood Varsity team has now dropped six consecutive games to start the season. While goaltending continues to remain a bright spot for Longwood, the young program will need to find secondary scoring in order to win games. Longwood will square off with the Connetquot Sayville T-Birds on Wednesday, November 1st at 9:20 PM. With two critical points on the line, expect the T-Birds to pull out all the stops as the Longwood Lions continue their hunt for their first-ever SCHSHL Varsity Win.