Jason Caputo scored twice in the final 7:04, including a power-play winner with 2:02 remaining, and Gaels Ice Hockey rallied past East Islip 4-3 on Friday night at The Rinx – North Rink. It was Gaels Ice Hockey first game in the Suffolk County High School Hockey League after moving up from Nassau JV, and it ended with the program’s first league victory.
Andrew Firth gave East Islip a 1-0 lead with 4:32 left in the first period, scoring on a wraparound with assists from Jordan Haines and Christopher Blaschuk. Gaels Ice Hockey answered with two goals in under a minute in the second. Alberts Purins tied it with 8:14 left off feeds from Ralfs Krumins and Aituar Abdulla, setting off a celebration in the stands, and Kolya Umlauf followed with an unassisted goal with 7:34 remaining for a 2-1 lead.
A string of roughing minors early in the third, two of them to Gabriels Jankausks, put Gaels Ice Hockey down two men. East Islip capitalized on the 5-on-3 when Blaschuk tied it 2-2 with 11:48 left, with Peter Marazzito and Charles Souhrada assisting. James Walsh then put East Islip ahead 3-2 with 8:34 remaining off assists from Marazzito and Collin Inga, and the crowd erupted again.
The lead lasted 90 seconds. Caputo tied it 3-3 with 7:04 left on a setup from Umlauf, and after Matthew Freisem went off for hooking, Caputo pounced on a loose puck and lifted it high into the net for the 4-3 lead. East Islip pulled Ryan Rauscher for an extra attacker with about 30 seconds left, but Gaels Ice Hockey held firm through the final push.
Umlauf finished with a goal and two assists and broke up several East Islip chances with sharp defensive reads. Gaels Ice Hockey also controlled the faceoff circle for much of the night. Niklas Frohnhoefer earned the win in his varsity debut, allowing three goals and coming up with diving, reactive stops when Gaels Ice Hockey needed them. Rauscher, who allowed four goals in the loss, kept East Islip close with desperation stops under sustained pressure.
Marazzito and Blaschuk each had two points for East Islip, which fell to 2-2-0-0, while Gaels Ice Hockey opens its varsity era at 1-0-0-0. Both teams now look ahead to their next games, with Gaels Ice Hockey out to show its debut was no fluke.
