Friars Come Back to Ice Chaminade Hockey 7-2

Despite picking up their  and playing some of their best hockey of the season, the  varsity hockey team  (Huntington), this time 7-2, at Iceworks in Syosset Friday night. The Flyers were out shot 33-15, pitting their best two-way hockey of the season against the undefeated, defending CHSHL champions.

"The scoreboard was not indicative of the game. The way we played early should be incentive to realize where we could be," Flyers coach Frank Bendl said. "The team worked until the whistle blew. The effort was great."

Chaminade jumped to an early lead when senior Norman Riker blasted one past St. Anthony's goaltender Sean Keating on a power play goal 4:33 into the game. The Flyers played a conservative first period, as junior Joe Vella tapped one past Keating to make it 2-0.

"They played a good game and not only did we make some mistakes and they capitalized on them, but the bottom line is we had a lot more opportunities than just two goals we got," Bendl said. "We needed to keep scoring."

From there, the Friars took over the game. St. Anthony's scored four goals in the second period while Chaminade only managed three shots. Michael Marnell scored 2:12 into the second period to make it 2-1. Nick Randazzo tied the game at 6:28 and Evan Katz gave the Friars their first lead of the game at 8:21. Before the period ended, Chris Wallace added another goal for St. Anthony's to bring the score to, 4-2. 

"We didn't come out ready to play and the kids thought that because we beat this team earlier in the year that it was going to be a pushover," St. Anthony's coach Jeff Stelmok said. "Chaminade is always a good team and it's always a good rivalry between the two schools. We basically turned it up, tightened the screws and went back to the game we normally play."

The Flyers had only 15 shots the entire game. Chaminade senior Matthew Scarpato, who returned from an illness on Monday, nearly closed the gap with 15 seconds to go in the third period, but hit the post after making the perfect move to the net.

Despite two power plays in the third, the Flyers only managed four shots on goal in the period. St. Anthony's continued to press until the finals seconds of the game. Senior Tom McGuire scored twice inside the eighth minute of the third period to make the score 6-2. Randazzo then added his second of the game at 14:23.

"They beat us last year in the JV championship and they beat us in the first game of the year," Vella said. "We just have to bury the puck a little more, we had some nice shots but we just didn't score and it cost us the game."

CROSS CHECK: The Flyers will not play again until after Christmas. Chaminade will play Monsignor Farrell (Staten Island) on Dec. 27 at World Ice Arena in Flushing Meadows Park.