Cody Resseque scored four goals, and Kings Park/Commack (FR) erased a five-goal deficit with six unanswered goals in the third period to beat West Islip Blue (FR) 9-7 in a Freshman Division season opener Saturday night at The Rinx – North Rink. Ryan Trainor scored twice, including the go-ahead goal with 4:00 left that gave Kings Park/Commack its first lead of the night.
West Islip Blue controlled the first two periods. Adam Rank opened the scoring with 9:40 left in the first off a feed from Michael Lane. Lane, whose speed and forechecking were a problem for Kings Park/Commack all night, scored unassisted with 5:10 left. Rank added his second goal with 1:44 left, assisted by Sebastian Puleo, before Resseque answered unassisted with 0:50 remaining to make it 3-1.
Lane scored again with 14:04 left in the second. Lukas Wilk then scored twice on rebounds, set up by Chase Valery and Harrison Kent, to stretch the lead to 6-1. Kings Park/Commack’s penalty kill then turned the game. While killing a penalty, Resseque scored short-handed with 7:49 left, and Joseph Tuozzolo added another short-handed goal 54 seconds later. Rank completed his hat trick with 5:55 left on a setup from Lane, and West Islip Blue carried a 7-3 lead into the third.
Kings Park/Commack came out of the intermission with a different look. Tuozzolo scored with 13:11 left, and Resseque followed with 12:16 left to cut the deficit to 7-5. Trainor converted a pass from Owen Niedert with 10:34 remaining to make it 7-6. Niedert finished a two-on-one with 6:10 left to tie it 7-7, with Zachary Sklar assisting, and the crowd responded loudly. Trainor then scored on a three-on-one to put Kings Park/Commack ahead. West Islip Blue pulled William Chero for an extra attacker with about two minutes left, and Resseque sealed the result with an empty-net goal with 0:36 remaining, assisted by Tuozzolo.
Tuozzolo finished with two goals, one of them on a wraparound, and an assist. Lane led West Islip Blue with two goals and two assists. Sean Mills was credited with the win for Kings Park/Commack (1-0-0-0) after allowing seven goals, and Chero took the loss for West Islip Blue (0-1-0-0) after allowing eight. Both teams will look to build on a high-scoring opener when they return to the ice.
