Ayden Gabrielsen scored three goals in his Middle Country debut, and Middle Country (JV) held off a third-period push to beat Southampton (JV) 7-4 on Wednesday night at The Rinx – South Rink. Middle Country improved to 2-0-0-0, while Southampton fell to 0-1-0-0 in its season opener.
Maxwell Goldstein, one of the top JV goal scorers last season, opened the scoring with 7:21 left in the first period on an unassisted backhand finish. Gabrielsen answered 20 seconds later on a feed from Ty Schimkus. Zachary Maresca then put Middle Country ahead 2-1 with 56 seconds left in the period.
Michael Kessler pulled Southampton even at 2-2 with 13:08 left in the second, but Edward Orban restored the lead on a breakaway 1:09 later. Leontios Teryazos came on in relief of Scott Armusewicz III during the period. Gabrielsen scored on the power play with 8:24 left, then completed the hat trick off another Schimkus assist with 5:14 remaining to make it 5-2, a goal that stood as the winner.
Southampton, playing with a shortened bench on a chilly late-September night, would not go away. Kessler struck with 10:39 left in the third, and Goldstein added a diving effort off a Cam Minardi assist with 7:44 remaining to cut the deficit to 5-4 and bring the Southampton supporters to life. Just 20 seconds later, Dylan Dechiaro, who entered the game with two goals, pounced on a loose puck after an Orban rush to make it 6-4 and stall the comeback.
Teryazos kept Southampton’s hopes alive late in the third with an aggressive stop on Orban, and Southampton used a timeout to organize a final push. Liam McCarthy closed it out with a well-taken goal off an Ian Groshans assist with 42 seconds left, his first of the season. Jack Lasalla, who made a sharp glove save during the game, earned the win for Middle Country while allowing four goals, and Teryazos took the loss after allowing four.
Schimkus finished with two assists and Orban had a goal and an assist for Middle Country, while Goldstein and Kessler each scored twice for Southampton. Middle Country will look to stay unbeaten, and Southampton will seek its first win of the season.
