James Walsh scored twice and added two assists, Andrew Firth scored two power-play goals, and East Islip defeated Kings Park/Commack 10-5 on Wednesday night at The Rinx – North Rink. Dominic Slevin recorded a hat trick for Kings Park/Commack, but East Islip got goals from seven different players and scored five times in the third period.
The first period went back and forth. Matthew Defeo opened the scoring for Kings Park/Commack with 10:36 left, and Landon Musumeci tied it a short time later. Firth gave East Islip a 2-1 lead on the power play with 2:50 remaining, but Slevin answered on a breakaway with 2:04 left to send the teams to the first intermission tied 2-2.
East Islip took control in the second with three straight goals. Walsh put the hosts ahead, and Charles Souhrada converted on the power play to make it 4-2. Christopher Blaschuk then made it 5-2 shortly after East Islip returned to full strength, finishing a weave with a cut-back move. Slevin’s second goal, with 2:09 left in the period, energized the Kings Park/Commack bench and made it 5-3 heading into the third.
Firth’s second power-play goal, the game-winner, came early in the third. Slevin answered moments later, finishing his hat trick unassisted to cut the deficit to 6-4. East Islip responded with three goals in a span of 2:32 from Peter Marazzito, Walsh and Ryan Bradley to make it 9-4. Kevin Schwartz briefly lifted the visitors with a breakaway goal, using a shoulder shimmy to tuck it home with 6:53 left. Bradley’s second goal of the night, with 2:11 remaining, closed the scoring.
East Islip’s power play went 3-for-4, and the crowd grew loudest on those goals and again at the final horn. Walsh, who entered the game with two assists and no goals, scored his first two goals of the season. Bradley and Marazzito each finished with three points. Joseph Sasso allowed five goals and earned the win. For Kings Park/Commack, Tyler Burke took the loss after allowing seven goals, and Grayson Eble allowed three after coming on in relief in the third period. Schwartz finished with a goal and two assists, and Joseph Mezzasalma had two assists.
East Islip improves to 2-1-0-0, while Kings Park/Commack falls to 1-2-1-0 as both teams look ahead to their next games.
