Jackson Zoob‘s five-point performance and William Auletta‘s answering hat trick highlighted a championship thriller as Sachem Developmental claimed the Suffolk County High School Hockey League Developmental title with a 7-5 victory over Northport Huntington Developmental Gold at North on Wednesday night. The Braves (19-2) captured their first championship behind Zoob‘s three goals and two assists, while Auletta‘s three-goal response kept the Tigers (14-6) in striking distance throughout a penalty-filled finale.
The championship game lived up to its billing as a rematch between familiar foes who had split their three regular-season meetings. Zoob, who entered with 28 goals and 22 assists in 21 games, opened the scoring at 13:57 of the first period and added another goal just over eight minutes later with an assist from Mason Lovergine. Patrick Rodriguez extended Sachem’s early lead to 3-0, but Auletta responded with his first goal at 6:26 to give Northport hope entering the second period trailing 3-1.
The middle frame saw both teams trade goals, with Giovanni Demarco cutting the deficit to 3-2 on assists from Auletta and James Maloney before Lovergine restored Sachem’s two-goal cushion with help from Zoob at 7:38. The third period erupted into chaos with six goals scored, including a crucial sequence where Jesse Atkins netted the game-winner at 2:15, followed by Zoob completing his hat trick just 15 seconds later to seemingly put the game away at 7-3.
But Northport, known for comebacks throughout the season, mounted a furious rally that nearly completed one of the most dramatic championships in league history. Auletta completed his hat trick at 11:10 and again with 24 seconds remaining, sandwiching goals by Camden Collins and Daniel Cesa to make it 7-5. The Tigers’ late charge fell just short as the Braves held on despite 10 total penalties in a chippy final period that saw both teams leave everything on the ice.
The championship victory capped a dominant season for Sachem, whose only regular-season losses came in their final three games, including a 4-2 defeat to these same Tigers that ended their bid for perfection. Bradley Skillman earned the victory in goal for the Braves, while captain Camden Collins had the honor of lifting the championship trophy. For Northport, the loss ended a season where they proved to be Sachem’s biggest challenger, having been the only team to solve the league leaders’ formula during the regular season.