Connetquot/Sayville Rolls Over West Islip, 9-1

Thunderbirds captain and leading scorer Frank DiChiara did seemingly everything but find the back of the net Wednesday night. Luckily for him, plenty of his teammates didn't have that problem.

Connetquot/Sayville (10-3-0) got goals from six different players en route to an easy 9-1 victory over West Islip. The win moves them into a tie for second place with Middle Country.

"They did exactly what they needed to do," said Connetquot head coach Bruce Kollmar of his role players. "We talked before the game about how I need more production out of my other lines. They stepped up and gave me that production."

The T-Birds got a pair of goals from Nick Russo, Tyler Young and Joe Bizzarro, as well as tallies by Brian Fenster, Casey O'Leary and David Cahn.

"We were looking at other guys scoring for us and that's what we need to have," said Kollmar.

Connetquot jumped out to a 2-0 lead at 10:27 on the strength of two shorthanded goals that were created by West Islip's (1-12-1) mistakes. Young and Russo scored 47 seconds apart while killing off the same penalty, both times taking advantage of a turnover inside the Tigers' blueline.

Less than a minute later, Bizzaro netted his first of the game on a quirky bounce. Dan Monahan took the puck out of the corner and threw it toward the crease, where it hit off Bizzaro's hip and past West Islip goaltender Tom Rubin with 3:42 to play in the opening period.

Rubin, who was under fire most of the evening, kept his team in it before being lifted for David Colarossi prior to the start of the third period. He stopped 20 of the 24 shots he faced, while Colarossi made 11 saves on 16 shots.

Connetquot controlled the play throughout the game, holding a 40-6 shot advantage.

"We've got a bunch of guys who skate real hard," said Kollmar. "We talk about being hard on the puck and being hard on the defender. If you make sure you get in hard and you keep your feet moving, keep working the puck down low, good things are going to happen."

West Islip's only goal came on a shot by defenseman David Cantor, who beat T-Birds goaltender Brett Ficken from the blue line through a screen at 2:43.

Bizzaro struck again midway through the second period, ripping a slapshot past Rubin to the short side at 6:07.

Connetquot was kept off the board until the third period, including a number of scoring opportunities DiChiara was unable to convert. As the game wore on, and the chances began to pile up, the team began to tease it's snakebitten captain.

"Frankie got robbed a few times today," said linemate Nick Russo. "He was telling me to be quiet because I was rattling him a little bit because he couldn't bury it like he always does. He usually has like six goals a game, but not tonight. I don't know why."

Fenster scored 3:12 into the third period, as he took a pass from O'Leary and beat Colarossi to along the ice.

David Cahn pushed the T-Birds' advantage to 6-1 later in the period, when he picked up yet another loose puck in the West Islip end and scored at 6:52.

Just 55 seconds later, Russo carried the puck into the zone and slowed down just before heading into the corner. He pulled up and hit Young with a pass to Colarossi's right, leaving his linemate with a wide open net. Young didn't miss, sliding the puck into the gaping net for his second of the game.

"I was going in to take the shot," said Russo. "But I picked my head up and saw his stick down so I just threw it there. He had his stick down, and just buried it."

With just under two minutes to play, Russo struck again. Following a shot by Rich Robertson, Russo crashed the net and deposited his second of the game at 1:48.

"He really stepped up," Kollmar said of Russo. "We talked on the bench saying, 'If one guy's not going, we need to have somebody else going.' You need other guys to step up and get open, and that's exactly what Nicky did tonight."

O'Leary capped the scoring 37 seconds later on a shot from approximately 20 feet that beat Colarossi to the stick side.

News & Notes:  Connetquot has now won five straight, dating back to Nov. 14, when they fell 8-6 to top-seeded Long Beach... The T-Birds are now 1-0 when DiChiara is held scoreless... In addition to being the team's leading scorer, DiChiara also leads all Metropolitan Junior Hockey League scorers with 32-23-55 in 20 games played... Middle Country defeated Smithtown 3-1 to keep pace with the T-Birds for second place... West Islip was held without a shot in the third period... Connetquot will travel to play league newcomer Hudson Valley on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.