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The SCHSHL JV Semifinals Preview 

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Does #4 seed East Islip Chiefs have what it takes to pull off an upset against a #1 seed Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls squad that has lost just one game in the last two seasons?  Can #3 seed Sachem win a rivalry game against the #2 seed PatMed Raiders, a program that was reestablished after spending two decades as part of the Sachem Hockey Club. Dive right in with our 2023-2024 SCHSHL Semifinals Preview!

The Matchups 

#4 Seed East Islip Chiefs V #1 Seed Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls at 8:10 PM

My Pick: The Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls

The East Islip Chiefs Varsity squad may have emerged victorious over the Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls in the NYSAHA Finals, but don’t expect a repeat at the JV level on Monday night. This is personal for Connor Dubeau, son of Bulls Varsity bench boss Mark Dubeau, and Aidan Landrigan, whose older brother led the program to a SCHSHL Championship under the aforementioned Smithtown Hauppauge Coach. Marcus D’Errico, younger brother of Victor D’Errico, Brandon Reidy, younger brother of Shane Reidy, and Ryan Trites, younger brother of Bobby Trites, are also names to watch out for it.

Setting aside the rivalry here, the Bulls defeated the Chiefs by a final score of  6-1 in their lone regular season meeting. The Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls defeated East Islip 7-1 in the 2022-2023 Quarterfinals, but only a few members of this Chiefs squad were a part of that team. At the end of the day Tierney Recenello will need to be at the top of his game if Chiefs netminder Patrick O’Shea is going to have a chance to steal this game. 

#3 Seed Sachem V #4 Seed PatMed Raiders at 9:40 PM 

My Pick: PatMed Raiders 

There’s a lot of history riding on this matchup. The Raiders may be the higher seed in this one, but a lot of kids who grew up in PatMed can still remember the days when the district was part of the Sachem Hockey Club. 

The PatMed Raiders defeated Sachem 7-2 in their lone meeting of the regular season back on December 3rd. Jake Strong opened the scoring before Michael Noone and Jake Raineri scored to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead entering the 3rd period of their win over Sachem. Surprise, surprise it was those same three players who opened the scoring against the Longwood Lions in the Quarterfinals, albeit in a slightly different order. 

I expect this one to be a tight game with the PatMed Raiders winning out thanks to a strong core group that made it to the Semifinals last season only to lose 4-2 to the Smithtown Hauppauge Bulls. Luke Tannenbaum allowed just three goals in that heartbreaking loss, and I expect the Raiders netminder to be the difference maker this time around. Sachem lost in round one of last season’s semifinals to a St. Anthony’s squad that made it all the way to the JV Finals. Matt Bispo, James Drago, Caiden Marcus, Chase Saunders and Logan Stoltenberg will have to bring their A Game to beat Tannenbaum while Anthony Mare will need to be rock solid in goal to pull off an upset.

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