By TONY BELLISSIMO
But unlike most extra sessions, it was a key play during the closing seconds of the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference. The Marines won it 12 seconds into overtime when junior Garrett Blomquist took a return pass from senior Chris Griffin and carried the ball 20 yards before firing it home for an 8-7 Long Beach victory.
"It was a great game to be a part of," coach Joe Hoffman said after the Marines secured their fourth consecutive win to improve to 4-3 in conference action and 7-4 overall. "We've really been playing well at both ends of the field. I think it was just a matter of getting the sticks going. Once we had a few games under our belt, everything seemed to fall into place."
With 21 seconds left in regulation and the score tied 7-7, defenseman Dan Monaghan was flagged for a penalty. The Jets had the game in their possession until Jim Maroney, Connor Mullin and Eddie Safaniev converged to cause a turnover. Safiniev scooped up the loose ball and held it until the buzzer sounded.
"We had possession when the fourth quarter ended, so that meant there would be no face-off to start overtime," Hoffman said. "We were able to start the OT with the ball in Garrett's stick. He passed it to Griffin and one of their defenders slid over to Chris. When Chris threw the ball back to Garrett, he took it right to the cage."
East Meadow led 3-0 after the first quarter and 4-3 early in the third. Senior attackman Will Thorsen, playing in his first game in two weeks due to a knee injury, scored two of his three goals to put the Marines in front for the first time. Owen O'Shea assisted on both.
"Will can catch and finish and it's great to have him back," Hoffman said. "He and Owen have some nice chemistry going. They set each other up regularly."
The Jets pulled even with an Eric Gandhi goal, but Long Beach answered 12 seconds later with Blomquist setting up Griffin. But Ross Chakarian scored twice for East Meadow over the final 3:11, the second score answering an O'Shea goal and forcing the overtime.
"If there were a game that deserved to be a tie, this was it," Hoffman said. "It was fun."
Junior goalie Greg Kavazanjian continued his fine play between the pipes, with 20 saves. He's had a total of 55 saves during the four-game winning streak.
"Greg's been solid, and so has the defense in front of him," said Hoffman, referring to the back-line trio of Monaghan, Maroney and Bobby Carls.
The uprising began with a 5-4 non-league victory over Freeport, which was followed by an eye-popping 14-2 blowout against Lawrence. Griffin and Blomquist combined for seven goals, scoring four and three, respectively. Both have seen action on the wings thanks to the emergence of Michael Medrano on face-offs.
"We've got a lot more options than we had three weeks ago," Hoffman said.
The Marines visit South Side this Saturday at 10 a.m. and host nationally ranked Farmingdale on Monday at Long Beach Middle School at 4:30 p.m.
