RSS 2.0 FeedThursday, January 19, 2012, Bellmore Life
Tough loss for the Bulldogs
A win against Oceanside is followed by a loss to Long Beach.
Long Beach goalie makes sparkling saves against aggressive Bulldogs attacks. Photo by Eric Homburger
by Eric Homburger
The Bellmore-Merrick Bulldogs played two games this past holiday weekend, defeating Oceanside 6-3 and losing to Long Beach 3-1.
A day after the Bulldogs got back in the win column with a win against Oceanside at Bethpage Rink, they got right back on the rink to take on Long Beach at home. Goalie Chris Silvester got the nod for the Bulldogs, as Jacob Smart is still out with a concussion and Matt Waldmann played the night before.
The Bulldogs came out flat. Long Beach immediately took control of the game. Taking full advantage of the Bulldogs’ slow start, Long Beach bombarded Silvester with shots. With 9:39 left in the first, Long Beach took the lead, 1-0.
With big hits and crisp passing, Long Beach continued to dominate play. Their hard work paid off once again late in the first. A low shot, glove side, beat Silvester, making the score 2-0.
As the second period began, the Bulldogs came out with “a little” more fire. They joined the physical play and they slowed down the opponent’s offense. With 6:57 left in the second, Steven Azzara put the Bulldogs on the board, cutting Long Beach’s lead in half.
Late in the second, the Bulldogs were assessed a two-minute minor for charging. Silvester stood on his head during the penalty, making saves with every body part he had. But with solid defense and Silvester's brilliant play, the penalty didn’t cost the Bulldogs a goal.
With 1:14 left in the second, Long Beach added to their lead, making the score 3-1.
As the third and final period got underway, the players got feisty. There had already been nine penalties combined in the first two periods, but things really started to heat up in the third.
3:29 into the third period, the Bulldogs goalie made a save, and an opposing player bulldozed him. There was no penalty assessed on the play.
Azzara took exception to the hit on his goalie, and came out on the next shift mad as hell, hitting everything with a blue [Long Beach] jersey.
As the period progressed, the game went from bad to worse. It was an extremely physical game, with most violations going uncalled by the refs.
After making a save with 6.9 seconds left in the game the Long Beach netminder came out of his crease to punch a Bulldogs’ player. Words were exchanged and there was some pushing and shoving, mainly done by opposing players.
When the refs dropped the puck for the final time and right after the buzzer there was even more pushing and shoving.
In the end, the Bulldogs fell to Long Beach 3-1, with 17 penalties called in the game, but there could have been more.
The next stretch of games for the Bulldogs will be tough, as they play three games in three nights: Syosset on Monday, January 23, at 9 p.m. at Newbridge, Jericho on Tuesday, January 24, at 7:30 p.m. at Bethpage, and Bethpage on Wednesday, January 25, at 7:15 at Bethpage.
These are three winnable games for the Bulldogs and important points in the standings.
Eric Homberger is an intern, he is currently a senior at John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore.
