John McCormick scored three times, including the overtime winner, to lead Ward Melville (VR) to a 5-4 victory over West Islip (VR) at The Rinx – South Rink on Wednesday. McCormick opened the extra session just 30 seconds in, sending Ward Melville off with the extra point after the teams battled through a wild, back-and-forth affair that needed extra time to settle.
West Islip struck first when William Shields buried a power-play goal at 13:46 of the first period, but McCormick answered right back with a shorthanded goal just over two minutes later to even things up. Gianni Ruggiano restored the lead for West Islip with an assist from Shields before the period ended, sending the teams into the second tied 1-2 in Ward Melville’s favor on the period ledger. The second period was all offense, with Peter Dykeman and Anthony Cerulli scoring for Ward Melville while Liam Henshaw and James Johnson answered for West Islip, leaving the game deadlocked at 4-4 after 40 minutes.
McCormick put Ward Melville back in front in the third period, converting on the power play at 5:33 with an assist from Matthew Dann for what looked like the go-ahead goal. West Islip found a way to answer and force overtime, setting up McCormick’s game-winning strike to complete his hat trick and secure the extra point for Ward Melville. Lucas Scolaro finished with two assists in the win, while Robert Huhne earned the victory in goal for Ward Melville and Tyler Sapoff took the extra-time loss for West Islip.
The result pulls Ward Melville to 4-12 while West Islip drops to 4-13 as
