The Long Island Warriors – Orange used a balanced offensive attack to pull away from Draft Team on Friday night at Northwell Health Ice Center, cruising to a 5-2 victory behind two-goal performances from Chris Squires and Jon Rothenberg.
Draft Team struck first, as Jose Bravo capitalized on a feed from Patrick Lanciotti at 7:42 of the opening period to put the visitors on the board. But the Warriors answered before intermission when Chris Squires buried a feed from Eddie Vega at the 10:00 mark, evening the score and setting the tone for what would become a decisive shift in momentum.
The second period belonged entirely to the home team. Jon Rothenberg opened the frame’s scoring with an unassisted tally at 6:20, and just five minutes later Mike Rivera struck what would stand as the game-winning goal, also unassisted, to give the Warriors a 3-1 cushion heading into the third.
Draft Team tried to claw back into it in the final period, with Bravo notching his second goal of the night at 14:28 for his second multi-point effort of the game, but the Warriors had answers of their own. Rothenberg added his second goal at 13:21, and Squires capped the scoring with a helper from Rivera to complete a night where all three combined for three goals and an assist between them. Draft Team’s Patrick Lanciotti was whistled for interference late in the third, but the penalty had little bearing on the outcome as the Warriors closed out a comfortable 5-2 win.
