Anthony Melendez netted a pair of goals and Brodie Rowe tallied three points to power Smithtown FR Red to a convincing 5-1 victory over Eastport South Manor Freshman on Monday night at North Rink. The win improved Smithtown’s impressive record to 16-2 while dropping Eastport South Manor to 12-5 in SCHSHL regular season play.
Smithtown FR Red took control early, building a 2-0 first-period advantage on goals from Joseph Jaquillard and Andrew Katchen. Jaquillard opened the scoring at 10:09 with assists from Dillon Dubeau and John Mills, before Katchen buried what proved to be the game-winner at 8:21 with help from Michael Napolitano. The early lead proved insurmountable for an Eastport South Manor squad that had entered the contest with a solid 12-4 record.
The second period belonged to Melendez, who doubled his season goal total from five to seven with strikes at 10:06 and 3:30. Rowe, who entered the game as Smithtown’s leading scorer with 23 points in 15 games, assisted on both Melendez tallies alongside Logan Kern and solo respectively. Eastport South Manor managed to crack the scoreboard when William Newport found the back of the net at 2:12 with an assist from Brody Maniaci, but it was too little too late against a dominant Smithtown attack.
Rowe capped the scoring with 9:00 remaining in the third period, converting a feed from Antonello Nicoletta to complete his three-point night. The victory marked Smithtown FR Red’s second win over Eastport South Manor this season, following their thrilling 10-8 triumph back on November 8th. Austyn Pagano absorbed the loss in net for Eastport South Manor, surrendering all five goals in the defeat.
