By TONY BELLISSIMO
The Sailors, who lost last spring¹s Class A championship game to the Chiefs in controversial fashion, stormed out of the gate to take a 5-1 lead at halftime, and were never in real danger. King scored three times, Toby and Tucciarone twice each, and Dan McDermott, Shane Wynn and Bobby Cassidy once apiece. Wynn won 8 of 11 second-half face-offs, which kept Massapequa from establishing any momentum.
³I didn¹t have to give a motivational speech,² Coach Bob Moltisanti said after Oceanside improved to 5-1 in conference play and 8-2 overall. ³The only thing I told the kids was I didn¹t want to hear a mention of last year¹s game. There was no reason for it.
³I think we did a solid job at both ends of the field. We feel very good about the way we¹ve rebounded from the loss to Farmingdale.²
Since suffering a 13-4 defeat to the Dalers on April 17, the Sailors have been sharp in their last two outings. They beat previously undefeated Baldwin, 7-2, four days later, shutting out the Bruins in the second half.
³We brought only five starters back from last year¹s team, but it¹s not shocking me to see where we¹re at right now,² Moltisanti said. ³We had a good nucleus to work with, and a lot of confidence in what we accomplished last year. Farmingdale has emerged as the favorite in Class A but there are many teams in the mix. We just didn¹t play well against Farmingdale, and we didn¹t have McDermott.²
That certainly wasn¹t the case against Baldwin or Massapequa. Six different Sailors scored in the win over the Bruins, with junior Derek Akner netting a pair. Akner ranks second on the team in goals with 20. Fellow attacks McDermott (25) and Toby (17) are first and third, respectively.
Senior goaltender John Bella has been ³unbelievable² the last two games, according to Moltisanti. He made 15 saves against Baldwin and 11 against Massapequa. The in-close defense, which had to be revamped after losing all three starters from 2006, is coming along just fine, with seniors Mike Sherry and James Riecker and junior Dan Lazrus leading the way.
Other conference victories have come against Herricks, Valley Stream Central and Plainview-JFK. The Sailors close the regular season with four straight home games, including three under the lights. Oceanside defeated Uniondale 17-4 last Saturday, and host Calhoun on Friday at 7:15 p.m. ³There¹s no relaxing with this schedule,² Moltisanti said.
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
Photos by Jeff Wilson/Herald
