The Boston Warriors (E) erased a first-period deficit and needed extra time to finish the job, beating the Ugly Pucklings 2-1 in overtime Sunday at Bill Torrey (Red) Rink to capture the E Division Championship at the LI Warriors Summer Shootout. John Sapporetti supplied the winner, poking the puck through after appearing to trip near the crease, capping a game in which Boston trailed for most of regulation.
Nick Pereira opened the scoring just 1:53 into the first period, converting a feed from Jay Badder to give the Ugly Pucklings the early lead. Pereira entered the day with three goals in two games and Badder carried five points in three, and their connection had the top-seeded Pucklings — unbeaten at 3-0 — in control for long stretches. Boston, playing without much offensive traction of its own, got the equalizer in the third period when Justin Frankel buried a feed from Andrew Bosworth at 6:05 to tie the game and force overtime. Frankel, a US Army veteran, was playing his second game of the day for a second Boston Warriors squad after the club’s C Division team had been eliminated in the semifinals earlier.
Discipline played a role in the outcome, as Adam Hojnacki took two penalties for the Ugly Pucklings — a hooking minor in the first period and another minor in the fourth — putting Boston on the power play at key moments. Lorenzo Lescano earned the win in goal for Boston, allowing one goal, with John Engvik also seeing time and keeping the Pucklings off the board in his appearance. Anthony Gandalfi took the overtime loss for the Ugly Pucklings, who had gone 3-0 to Boston’s 1-1 entering the day and had blanked the Warriors 6-0 in their only previous meeting this season.
The extra session decided a championship that lived up to the stakes of a single-elimination final, with Sapporetti’s overtime strike sealing the title after Boston clawed back from a game-long deficit. Sapporetti, who came in with four points in just one game played, delivered when it mattered most to give the Warriors organization a division crown on a day it also saw its C Division entry fall short. For the Ugly Pucklings, the loss ends a perfect run and closes the book on a tournament in which they had dominated possession and scoring chances for most of the afternoon.
