Long Island Blues Winter Classic Summary - Saturday, 3/9/24

It is approximately 50 miles between Codey Arena and the Town of Oyster Bay Skating Center on Long Island. The Dare Devils have travelled farther this year for other tournaments. For instance, Buffalo is about 360 miles from West Orange. However, somehow, the drive to Long Island feels like the longest drive ever. But once we arrived to the arena in Bethpage, our blood pressure went back to normal levels and we enjoyed the first class event put on by the rival Long Island Blues. The Dare Devils played three games and put in an excellent effort throughout the afternoon and evening. Fourteen Dare Devils and three coaches made the trip to Long Island today (Aria Berlin, Bahad Worley, Connor Hung, Patrick Hung, Captain Ryan Griffin, Reese Citro, Liam Smith, Ayden Duran, Shea Passikoff, Kevin Plunkett, Aaron Quintana, Shea Passikoff, James Cooney and Alex Anson). The Dare Devils finished the tournament with one win, one loss and a dramatic come from behind last minute tie in the championship game. Below are the game highlights;

3:30pm vs. Long Island Blues

The Dare Devils opened the tournament against the talented Long Island Blues, led by our good friend, goalie Taylor Esposito. Maybe the blood pressure was still high from the drive because the Dare Devils had a tough time solving the Blues in this game. Aria Berlin was brilliant in net but her efforts were not enough to get past the Long Island squad. The Dare Devils were never really in the game and lost by a score of 9-3. Patrick Law scored two goals, Captain Ryan Griffin scored a goal and an assist and Connor Hung had an assist. Solid defensive efforts were put in by Ryan Griffin and Reese Citro. Citro made an excellent poke check and sprung Ayden Duran on a breakaway but Duran was stopped by a Taylor Esposito pad save.

4:30pm vs. Southern CT Storm

Back to back games were nothing to the Dare Devils. Coach Myles has been preparing the players for days like this with conditioning work at every practice. Despite playing two games in a row, the Dare Devils were full of energy against the Storm and were able to secure their first win of the tournament. Aria Berlin could have gotten a shutout but her sportsmanship got in the way. She made countless saves but ensured that our friends from Connecticut were able to enjoy the thrill of scoring a few goals. The offense was paced by Shea Passikoff with 4 goals, Alex Anson with 3 goals, Patrick Hung with 2 goals and 1 assist, Aaron Quintana with 2 goals, Ayden Duran with 2 assists , Reese Citro with two assists, Patrick Law with 1 goal and Liam Smith with one assist (off of a beautiful faceoff win on Quintana's 2nd goal). Solid defensive efforts were once again put in by both of our A players, Captain Ryan Griffin and Reese Citro. Bahad Worley, competing in his first away tournament, played a solid game and was in on the action throughout the contest.

7:30pm vs. Long Island Blues for the Tournament Championship

After a wonderful bbq dinner (thank you Blues) and an excellent awards ceremony, the Dare Devils were given the opportunity to avenge their opening loss against the Blues in the main event of the night. The Dare Devils came out of the gate flying and scored the first two goals of the game. El Capitan (Ryan Griffin) scored the opening goal and James Cooney was back to his defensive excellence with a well-timed poke check and pass that sprung Patrick Hung for another Dare Devils goal. The rest of the game was a back and forth affair with the Blues taking the lead and the Dare Devils staying close throughout. Reese Citro, Ryan Griffin, Patrick Hung and Alex Anson (assisted by Griffin) put in goals but the Dare Devils still found themselves down a goal with a minute to play. Coach Terence's coaching classes paid off and he gamely pulled Aria Berlin for an extra attacker in the final minute. Ryan Griffin hopped the boards and immediately went to work trying to get the tying goal past Esposito. Esposito was able to make several saves but our Captain's heroics ultimately came through and he completed his hat-trick by scoring the tying goal with 15 seconds remaining. Berlin went back in net as the final seconds ticked away and the game ended in a tie. Berlin was excellent throughout and her strong play was the difference in securing this tie. Kevin Plunkett played an excellent game and made several key defensive plays and passes that set his teammates up for opportunities.