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West Islip Defeats Ward Melville 4-3 in Overtime

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HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. — Senior Ciaran Pollard scored twice and added an assist to lead West Islip (4-13-1) to a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory against Ward Melville (4-14-0) on Monday night.

Sophomore James Barbieri netted the game-winning goal in overtime.

Senior Nick Perpall scored for the Lions.

Sophomore Tyler Sapoff picked up his 3rd win through 10 starts for West Islip.

Senior Luke Tannenbaum made his 12th start in goal for Ward Melville.

Senior James Fisher opened the scoring at 13:33 of the 1st period with his first goal of the season to make it 1-0 Patriots. Fisher buried a one-timer off a backhand feed from Junior Tyler Curley.

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Perpall tied the game with his 3rd tuck of the campaign at 3:04 of the 1st period. Perpall drove to the net, spinning past one defender, and sniped bar down.

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Senior Aidan Ayers put the Patriots up 2-1 his 13th goal of the campaign at 8:52 of the 2nd period. Ayers beat Sapoff 1-on-1 off a give-and-go with Senior Anthony Cerulli.

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Pollard beat the defender and Sapoff to tie the game at 3:27 in the second stanza.

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Ayers scored again, his 14th of the season, at 5:38 of the 3rd period to give Ward Melville a 3-2 lead. Ayers rolled off the wall, drifted towards the slot, and sniped far side.

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Pollard tied the game at 3:49 of the 3rd period with his 36th goal of the season to force overtime. The Lions captain rifled it glove side on a shot from the slot in transition.

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Barbieri scored this 4th goal of the season, and his 2nd career overtime game winner in overtime to give the Lions a 4-3 overtime victory.

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Box Score

TeamTimePeriodGoal ScorerAssist(s)Type
Ward Melville13:331st(#97) James Fisher (1)UnassistedEven Strength
West Islip03:041st(#19) Nick Perpall (3)(#9) Ciaran Pollard (8)Power Play
Ward Melville08:522nd(#6) Aidan Ayers (13)(#16) Anthony Cerulli (13), (#56) Patrick Scali (4)Even Strength
West Islip03:272nd(#9) Ciaran Pollard (35)(#8) Spencer Jordan (2)Even Strength
Ward Melville05:383rd(#6) Aidan Ayers (14)UnassistedEven Strength
West Islip03:493rd(#9) Ciaran Pollard (36)(#8) Spencer Jordan (3)Even Strength
West Islip00:43OT(#2) James Barbieri (4)UnassistedEven Strength (GWG)

Three Stars of the Game

StarPlayerStat Line
1st(#9) Ciaran Pollard2G, 1A
2nd(#2) James Barbieri1G (GWG)
3rd(#19) Nick Perpall1G

Upcoming Schedule

The Ward Melville Patriots (4-14) road to the playoffs runs through the Connetquot/ Sayville T-Birds (4-14). The two teams are set to square off on Friday, January 31 at 10:10 p.m. The Patriots took round one by a final score of 6-2 back on September 16, but it was the Patriots who pulled out a 7-3 victory in their second meeting of the season back on November 18.

The West Islip Lions (4-13-1) head into their matchup against the Smithtown/ Hauppauge Bulls (17-1) with no margin for error. The Lions haven’t beaten the Bulls since October 8 of 2023, but they need four points to clinch a playoff spot.

Right now, West Islip is the #9 seed and their other game remaining is against Northport/ Huntington. The Lions best chance to make it is for them to beat the Tigers, and for the T-Birds to lose their final two games.

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