Vikings Victorious!

Leon’s Lucky #13 Lifts Team To Title

Official Box Score

Leon Pivovarov lit the lamp four times in a decisive 7-1 win over the Massapequa Chiefs to power the Port Washington Manhasset Vikings to a NYIHSHL Middle School Championship. Pivovarov was named the 2023-2024 Middle School Playoffs MVP after scoring 13 times in 3 games. Charlottte Parker made 24 saves on 25 shots for the Vikings. Matt Radoslovich, known to teammates as Matt Rad, scored once in a three point outing. The Vikings scored two power play goals and were able to capitalize on a flurry of odd man rushes throughout the game.

Anthony Tarantino made 37 stops on 44 shots for the Massapequa Chiefs. The Chiefs lone goal came from their top line which was anchored by co-captains Colin Kurz and Logan McCauley as well as Anthony Cevallos. Kurz scored the Chiefs lone goal of the game with McCauley picking up the assist, while Cevallos generated a multitude of Grade A scoring chances in the game for Massapequa.

Max Hsu scored his first career NYIHSHL playoff goal on the power play to put the Vikings up 1-0 with 8:09 remaining in the opening frame. Hsu buried a rebound on the doorstep off a shot by Leon Pivovarov. The Vikings jumped out to a 2-0 lead courtesy of Leon Pivovarov with 6:17 left in the 1st period. Jayden Chan forced a turnover that led to a breakaway for Pivovarov, who went forehand-backhand to score. Colin Kurz scored a buzzer beating goal to make it 2-1 at the end of the first frame. Kurz sniped top cheddar on a partial breakaway after Logan McCauley forced a turnover and moved the puck up ice for the Chiefs goal scorer to skate into. The shots were 16-7 in favor of the Vikings in the opening frame.

Nathaniel Yuen fired back with his first career playoff goal to put the Vikings back up by two with 12:33 remaining in the second stanza. Xavier Chang entered the zone 2 on 1 off a feed from Matt Radoslovich before making a cross ice pass to Yuen who sniped glove side high to beat the sliding goaltender. Just over a minute later the kid they call Matt Rad gave the Vikings a 4-1. Rad rifled one blocker side high after driving from the left wing lane towards the slot. The Vikings went on the power play with 7:44 remaining in the 2nd period, but Anthony Tarantino came up clutch for the Chiefs penalty kill. Massapequa continued to gain momentum after a successful penalty kill, but Charlotte Parker stonewalled the Chiefs at every turn. The game was deadlocked at 4-1, but a 2 and 10 for boarding sent Massapequa back to the penalty kill with under two minutes to go in the period. Leon Pivovarov scored a power play goal with 34.9 seconds left in the frame. Pivovarov went five-hole off a face off win by Christos Loucas. 7 seconds later Pivovarov completed the hat-trick. Luocas won the draw to Leon, who turned on the jets to blow by the defense and went backhand-forehand to tuck it home. Massapequa had outshot 21-8 in the 2nd period. The Vikings were outshooting the Chiefs 37-15 after two periods with a 6-1 lead heading into the intermission.

The Chiefs came out firing on all cylinders, but were unable to find the back of the net. Declan Hayes replaced Charlotte Parker in goal with 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd period. Hayes made 6 saves on as many shots. Leon Pivovarov scored his 13th of the postseason on a shot from the slot with 1:59 remaining in the final frame with Matt Radoslovich picking up the primary assist and Byron Tsoromokos picking up the secondary.

Three Stars Of The Game

Congratulations to #2 Byron Tsoromokos, #3 Brooke Stock, #5 Xavier Chang, #6 Russel Fener, #7 Jayden Chan, #8 Chase Kim, #9 Jake ZuBrow, #15 Mason Berry, #16 Christos Loucas, #19 Sarp Tanlak-Soskesen, #21 Max Liebermann, #24 Declan Hayes, #25 Asher Furstenberg, #26 Natalya Chang, #27 Brady Yuttal, #28 Matt Radoslovich, #32 Charlotte Parker, #37 Nathaniel Yuen, #39 Liam Rizzxo, #53 Max Hsu and #55 Leon Pivovarov on becoming the 2023-2024 Nassau County Middle School Champions. We would also like to congratulate Head Coach Scott Zubrow, assistant coaches Linda Caruso, Sam Contino and Steven Radoslovich as well as managers Paula Kim and Dianna Radoslovich.