Northport/Huntington, East Islip Ice Hockey Battle to 6-6 Tie

Northport/Huntington and East Islip had a back-and-forth affair Wednesday night in the Suffolk County High School Ice Hockey League, ultimately ending in a 6-6 tie.

After 45 minutes, five ties, five lead changes and a five-minute overtime period, the teams still couldn't be separated. Each team will earn one point in the standings, and retain their positions as the two final playoff teams for the time being.

"Tonight's another game where it's back and forth," said Tigers coach Ken Catalano. "We're up by a goal then they tie it. We've just got some guys trying to do too much."

John Stahno had a pair of game-tying third period goals to force overtime, but neither team could net the winner.

In a first period that saw five goals, East Islip jumped out to a 3-1 lead, beating Tigers' goalie Bryan Deschamps on three of the first four shots he saw.

That was it for Deschamps, as he was lifted for .

"Joe's there when we need him," said Catalano. "Brian was struggling in the beginning of the game. I don't want to put it all on him but the team needed to be energized a bit and hopefully that made them come out a little stronger."

The team responded with a goal right before the end of the period by Paul Aureliano to cut the deficit to 3-2. Though they trailed heading into the second period, it wasn't long before Julien Kann knotted the game at three.

Just 96 seconds into the period, Kann took a rebound opportunity and slid it under East Islip goalie Mike Sullivan.

Sullivan stopped 23 of the 29 shots he faced.

The Tigers' continued to press and were rewarded with their first lead of the night 27 seconds later when Charlie Vanleuvan deflected a shot from the point by John McCloskey.

East Islip answered back a minute and a half later thanks to an unusual play. With the puck in the corner behind the East Islip net, Dylan Porcello's skate blade fell off his boot. While he was getting assistance making it to the bench, the Redmen picked up the puck and went down on an odd-man rush. Joey Lafata found a way past Schrom, and the game was once again tied.

The scoring onslaugh came to a halt, thanks mostly to the play of Joe Schrom. He made 24 saves in all, including a few odd-man rushes. East Islip was hanging a winger behind the Tigers' defense in the neutral zone while Northport had possesion.

It nearly paid off for the Redmen as a defenseman found Gerard Faraone and sprung him on two breakaways, but he was denied by Schrom both times. After that, the Northport defense became weary of East Islip's game plan.

"They were looking for that," said Catalano. "We made a couple big plays defensively tonight."

The Tigers were unable to convert on a 5-on-3 advantage that carried over into the third period, but Stahno scored his first of two shortly after at 2:23.

Stahno and Mike Coyle came down on a 2-on-1 break. After receiving a pass in the right circle, Coyle fired a shot that was stopped by Sullivan. The rebound popped up, and Stahno smacked it in out of mid-air to give the Tigers their second lead of the contest.

Kann and Kyle Becker were both taken off for penalties, giving East Islip a two-man advantage of their own for 27 seconds. Though Schrom was able to hold the fort, making four saves during the power play, Eric Gangi beat him low to the stick side at 8:21.

One minute and 14 seconds later, East Islip regained the lead when Matt Meier banged home an open-net rebound opportunity that left Schrom defenseless.

However, like they had been doing all night, the Tigers quickly answered. Stahno redirected a slow shot from the point by Jack Jacobsen, which fooled Sullivan to tie the game with 6:13 to play.

From that point forward, Sullivan and Schrom took over, each making a number of saves in the overtime.

"We'll move forward from here," said Catalano. "We start playing some teams now for the second time around and I think we'll be ready for them."