Reeve Chero scored three goals, including a short-handed tally, and St. Anthony’s Gold (JV) recovered from an early deficit to beat Longwood (JV) 9-2 on Friday at The Rinx – North Rink. Ryan Schechter added two goals for St. Anthony’s Gold (JV), which improved to 2-1-0-0 in a rematch of last season’s second-round playoff meeting that St. Anthony’s won.
Longwood (JV) struck first when Brewer Spinella scored with 14:12 left in the first period, set up by Luke Lamacchia and Ryan Fink. St. Anthony’s answered with 10:01 remaining as Chero, who was winning races to loose pucks all night, tied it off a feed from Reginald Henry III. Benjamin Grzan then put the visitors ahead 2-1 with 4:35 left, finishing a breakaway with a quick backhand-to-forehand move.
Kevin Beckman pushed the lead to 3-1 early in the second, reading a fast transition rush perfectly and scoring unassisted with 14:33 left. That goal held up as the winner. Lucas Sundack made it 4-1 later in the period with Peter O’Sullivan assisting. O’Sullivan seemed to be everywhere, creating chances with his positioning and work rate, and he finished with two assists after entering the game without a point.
St. Anthony’s Gold (JV) scored five times in the third. Schechter opened the period with a backdoor one-timer off a neatly connected backward pass, with O’Sullivan and Liam Becker credited with assists. Fink answered for Longwood (JV) 40 seconds later, but Chero scored short-handed with Michael Monteleone assisting. He completed the hat trick at even strength with 7:08 remaining. Cooper Ferrara showed quick hands to bury a loose puck in traffic. Schechter capped the scoring with the most skilled goal of the night, an air-to-ice finish while Lamacchia defended him closely.
St. Anthony’s forechecked aggressively and repeatedly disrupted Longwood’s attempts to slow the pace with puck control behind its own net. Chero came in with four points in two games and added three more. Schechter had three goals entering the night. Fink, who had seven points in his first two games, scored a goal and added an assist for Longwood (JV), now 1-2-0-0. Austyn Pagano earned the win for St. Anthony’s, and Riley Parrales took the loss.
St. Anthony’s Gold (JV) will try to build on its balanced attack, while Longwood (JV) looks to get back to .500.
