Brewer Spinella scored twice in the final 1:44, tying the game on a power play and then scoring the winner with 1:26 remaining, as Longwood (JV) came back from a 4-1 deficit to beat West Islip (JV) 5-4 on Wednesday night at The Rinx – South Rink. Longwood scored the game’s final four goals and held its first lead of the night only after Spinella’s winner.
West Islip controlled the early going behind Connor Webster, who scored with 9:01 and 4:27 left in the first period, both times set up by William Newport. Jake Aniano extended the lead to 3-0 on a power-play goal with 7:34 left in the second, with Matthew Minervini and Webster assisting. The game was more back-and-forth than that score suggested, and West Islip goalie Michael Elco was sharp through long stretches while his team made the most of its chances.
Longwood started to turn the game late in the second. Ryan Fredriksen got his team on the board with an unassisted deflection with 4:39 left, and Jeremy Sinclair answered for West Islip 74 seconds later to make it 4-1. Ryan Fink then cut the deficit to 4-2 with a point shot with 2:18 remaining in the period, and the momentum carried into the third. Fink struck again on the power play with 14:33 left in regulation, assisted by Fredriksen, to bring Longwood within 4-3.
The third period grew increasingly physical, with tension building on the ice and in the stands. Longwood leaned on Spinella and Fredriksen to kill off a five-minute major, then called a timeout and pulled its goalie for an extra attacker in the final two minutes. Spinella converted on the power play off a feed from Giovanni Cipriani to tie it 4-4 with 1:44 left. The crowd erupted, then erupted again when he scored unassisted 18 seconds later to give Longwood a 5-4 lead. West Islip pulled Elco for an extra attacker in the final minute but could not find the equalizer.
Webster finished with two goals and an assist, and Newport added two assists for West Islip. Spinella and Fink each scored twice for Longwood, and Fredriksen added a goal and an assist. Riley Parrales earned the win for Longwood, and Elco took the loss. Longwood (JV) opens its season 1-0-0-0, while West Islip (JV) starts 0-1-0-0 and will look to build on its fast start in its next game.
