Logan Kern scored twice, including the go-ahead goal with 2:23 remaining, as Smithtown/Hauppauge Red (JV) beat St. Anthony’s Gold (JV) 3-2 on Wednesday night at The Rinx – South Rink. The season opener for both clubs was a rematch of last year’s JV championship game, which Smithtown/Hauppauge won, and it played with a playoff feel from the start.
The first period was fast, clean and scoreless. Kevin Beckman and Vincent Sellitto drew offsetting interference minors with 11:08 left, and a tripping call on Jack Orth with 5:12 remaining later put St. Anthony’s Gold on the power play. Neither team scored, and goaltenders Sean Wohlgemuth and Austyn Pagano drew applause from the crowd for their stops throughout the night.
Kern broke the deadlock with 13:47 left in the second. He showed no hesitation, spinning through traffic and sliding the puck through the five-hole off a feed from Nicholas Avlonitis, and the building erupted. Dillon Dubeau made it 2-0 on a power-play goal with 6:40 left, assisted by Orth. St. Anthony’s answered on its own man advantage after a Nicolas Beccarelli roughing minor, when Beckman scored with 3:03 left in the period on assists from Nicholas Neuner and Reginald Henry III to cut the deficit to 2-1.
St. Anthony’s Gold, which controlled long stretches of possession, pulled even with 4:17 remaining in the third. Ryan Schechter finished a two-on-one with a wraparound, and Neuner picked up his second assist of the night. Kern answered less than two minutes later, scoring unassisted with 2:23 left to put Smithtown/Hauppauge back in front for good.
St. Anthony’s called a timeout and pulled Pagano for an extra attacker in the final two minutes. Wohlgemuth slid across in the closing seconds to deny a back-door chance and preserve the win. He was credited with the victory after allowing two goals, and Pagano took the loss after allowing three in a strong debut for St. Anthony’s alongside Beckman.
Smithtown/Hauppauge Red opens at 1-0-0-0, while St. Anthony’s Gold starts 0-1-0-0 and will look to build on its late rally in its next game.
