St. Anthony's Hockey Ices Chaminade 7-1

Brandon Destasio rolled his head in frustration Friday night.

The goalie had just been scored on by forward Mike Marnell 47 seconds into a game, the puck cruising into the net.

A small pep talk from lineman Joseph Anile did little to brighten Destasio’s spirits 150 seconds later when  forward Chris Habberstad made it 2-0 – the only one Marnell, who finished with 2 goals and 4 assists, did not have a hand in that night.

“He’s young. He’s got to learn, he’ll learn,” assistant coach Kevin Bendl said of his goalie, whom he showed faith in, refusing to pull him despite the 7-1 drubbing at the sticks of the Friars at Iceworks in Syosset.

“It wasn’t his fault at all,” Bendl said. “They had three-on-one, three-on-two every time, you can only do so much. They were wide open when they scored the goals, so we can’t really fault him for it at all. It really was just a team loss; it wasn’t anything to do with him.”

What it had to do with was the depth of the Friars’ lines that resembles the Marianas.

Lines that kept the Flyers inside their own blue line for most of the game, that only allowed Michael Minarczyk to score the only goal for Chaminade in the first period, the only true test that junior Dan Peterson ever faced in the 13 shots made against him.

What it had to do with was the lack of penetration from the home team and an inability to slow down the forwards.

Soon the rest of the team was probably feeling the same as their goalie.

You can’t blame the rest for taking out their frustrations either, dealing out blocks and checks as the game spun out of reach; they too will get another chance at the Friars this season.

Destasio and the rest of the Chaminade varsity hockey squad will not have to wait long for a second shot at the deep lines of St. Anthony’s Thursday at the Dix Hills Rink.

That doesn’t make it any less painful. In the past 48 hours and the ensuing 80-plus the junior goalie may replay in his mind those 25 shots the Friars got off, the seven that slipped by.

That is the beauty of a fast turnaround: there is no time to stew. Not enough games to let it fester in the back of your mind, to watch the endless amount of replays in the coach’s room. The beauty is the wound is still fresh, still smarting, still stinging.

The beauty is that Destasio and the rest of the Flyers will get another shot.