High School
The One With The Tie
No Game Winning Goal, No Problem?
In a thrilling Monday Night matchup the Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls squared off against East Islip for the first time since the 2023 NYSAHA High School Hockey Club Tournament. East Islip won that game 5-2 en route to an appearance at the National tournament. It became apparent right off the draw that neither team had forgotten that game. With leading scorer Bobby Trites out of the lineup it fell to the Bulls burgeoning forward core to set the tone. Brendan Landrigan seized the opportunity.
The Bulls first year forward charged up ice, split the East Islip defense, and drew all three EI players into the right side corner. Then and only then did Landrigan make a beautiful pass to a wide open John Dallessandro on the back door. Less than two minutes later EI star Ryan Anatra threaded the needle on a pass to Anthony Pepe, who was stonewalled by Bulls netminder Patrick Ryan. On the other side of the ice EI starting goaltender Brody Dickson made several key stops. Just past the midway mark in the first Thomas Ivers buried a rebound opportunity following a shot by Anatra to tie the game.
Then Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls forward Shane Reidy forced a turnover in his own zone with under three minutes remaining. The Bulls forward raced up ice, broke an EI defenders ankles one on one, before burying a backhanded shot through the five hole of the East Islip goaltender. The Bulls would go on to score four unanswered goals. Max Campo put his team up 3-1 with three seconds remaining in the first period. Then just nineteen seconds into the second period Shane Reidy made it 4-1 Smithtown. Ten minutes went by and Timothy Sellitto put the Bulls up 5-1. Twenty five seconds later Evan LaFata cut the Bulls lead to three. Then on the power play Ryan Anatra cut the Bulls lead to two after a series of great saves by Smithtown Hauppauge starter Patrick Ryan.
Down by two at the start of the third period East Islip got into a rhythm offensively. Just five minutes into the period Anthony Pepe found the back of the net off a beautiful feed from Thomas Ivers. Smithtown Hauppauge’s four goal lead had been cut to one. Brendan Landrigan put the Bulls back up by two but it wasn’t enough. East Islip’s Bryan Slattery cut the Bulls lead in half on the power play. Then Ryan Anatra scored his third of the night to tie the game late.
At the start of overtime a tripping penalty by Slattery put EI on the penalty kill. The Bulls failed to capitalize on the power play thanks to the heroics of East Islip netminder Brody Dickson. Before the first penalty had expired Ryan Anatra found himself in the penalty box for EI. Brody Dickson and the EI Penalty Kill proved to be up to the challenge. After the five on three ended a short handed chance by Thomas Ivers was denied by Patrick Ryan. The game would end without a game winner.
Scoring Summary:
Period | Time | Scorer | Assist(s) | Team |
1st | 10:01 | John Dallessandro | Brendan Landrigan | Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls |
1st | 06:46 | Thomas Ivers | Ryan Anatra, Anthony Pepe | East Islip Chiefs |
1st | 02:33 | Shane Reidy | Unassisted | Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls |
1st | 00:03 | Max Campo | Richard Pfister III, Gavin Bareham | Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls |
2nd | 14:41 | Shane Reidy | Jackson Cantalupo, Brendan Landrigan | Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls |
2nd | 05:40 (PP) | Timothy Sellitto | Gavin Bareham | Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls |
2nd | 05:15 (SH) | Evan Lafata | Ryan Anatra | East Islip Chiefs |
2nd | 02:10 (PP) | Ryan Anatra | Thomas Ivers | East Islip Chiefs |
3rd | 10:05 | Anthony Pepe | Thomas Ivers | East Islip Chiefs |
3rd | 05:41 | Brendan Landrigan | Jackson Cantalupo | Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls |
3rd | 02:30 (PP) | Bryan Slattery | Anthony Pepe, Thomas Ivers | East Islip Chiefs |
3rd | 00:33 | Ryan Anatra | Unassisted | East Islip Chiefs |
Three Stars of the Game:
Star | Player | Stat Line | Performance Description |
1st | Ryan Anatra | 3 Goals, 2 Assists | Ryan Anatra netted the game tying goal late in the third to complete a hat-trick while also notching two assists on the night. |
2nd | Shane Reidy | 2 Goals | Shane Reidy scored two key goals for the Bulls and was a force to be reckoned with. |
3rd | Thomas Ivers | 1 Goal, 3 Assists | Thomas Ivers collected another three assists on the season as well as the first EI goal of the night. |
Team Insights and Upcoming Schedule:
East Islip may have managed to snatch a tie from the jaws of defeat, but don’t expect Ryan Anatra and Thomas Ivers to be satisfied with a draw. Despite their win at last year’s state tournament, the EI Stars are 0-2-3 against Smithtown Hauppauge in the SCHSHL regular season. The last three contests between these two teams in that span have ended in a draw. East Islip also holds the dubious distinction of leading the SCHSHL in tie games this season.
All kidding aside, there is work to be done here for EI. Twenty three of East Islip’s fifty-five goals have been scored by Anatra this season. Thomas Ivers, Anthony Pepe and Anthony Marazzito each have seven which accounts for an additional twenty one goals. Luke LaFata and Even LaFata have a combined seven goals this season. EI will look to find more secondary scoring as we approach the midway mark of the season. With a league leading two ties on the season, look for EI to come out firing on all cylinders against Northport Huntington on Wednesday, November 8th at 7:50 PM.
The Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls may have proven they can go head to head with any SCHSHL opponent and hold their own, but beating them is an entirely different matter. The Bulls lost 5-4 in overtime to 1st place Sachem in the second game of the season. Smithtown Hauppauge also lost by one goal in regulation to West Islip and Kings Park Commack. Despite blowing a four goal lead this was actually a solid showing for the Bulls.
Leading scorer Bobby Trites was out of the lineup but that didn’t stop the Bulls from scoring six times last night. If Trites misses an extended period of time it would fall to players from the 2022-2023 JV Championship roster to set the tone moving forward. Fans can expect former JV Captain Brendan Landrigan and Co. to be more than up to the task when they take on the Connetquot Sayville BBP T-Birds in a Sunday Night Showdown on November 12th at 7:50 PM.
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