Nicholas Somma scored on a power play with 3:33 left in overtime, and St. Anthony’s opened its freshman season with a 4-3 win over Northport/Huntington Blue on Monday night at The Rinx – South Rink. Graeme Tumulty scored twice for Northport/Huntington Blue, including the tying goal with 1:44 left in regulation, before St. Anthony’s won it in the extra session.
Rhys Davi gave the defending champions a 2-0 lead in the first period. He scored unassisted with 12:58 left in the period, then added a power-play goal with 41 seconds remaining, set up by Aidan Mathers. Davi was the most noticeable skater on the ice all night, winning faceoffs and playing a physical, two-way game.
Northport/Huntington Blue went winless at the freshman level last season, but it answered in the second period. Tumulty beat the defense on a breakaway and finished with a backhand to make it 2-1 with 13:19 left, drawing a loud response from the home crowd. St. Anthony’s restored its two-goal lead less than three minutes later when Marc Parente capped a dominant shift with his first goal of the year, assisted by Mathers.
William Auletta kept the comeback going in the third period. He buried a loose rebound with 12:12 left to cut the deficit to 3-2. Tumulty then tied it 3-3 late in regulation, with Robert Coiscou assisting on both third-period goals. Both goaltenders came up with big moments: St. Anthony’s Logan Close turned back several two-on-ones and breakaways, and Northport/Huntington Blue’s Dylan Sbrocchi made a handful of desperation stops in his debut.
In overtime, St. Anthony’s worked a four-on-three power play. Frank Brown drove wide and fed Somma, who finished in front of the net for the winner. Close earned the win while allowing three goals. Sbrocchi took the overtime loss after allowing four.
St. Anthony’s starts the season 1-0-0-0, and Northport/Huntington Blue leaves its opener 0-0-0-1 with a point against its geographic rival.
