The Garden City Varsity Ice Hockey team continued its tough October schedule with three games this past week. On Tuesday, October 26, the team took on Island Trees High School. Garden City got an unassisted goal by Conor Reeves twenty-six seconds into the game and never relinquished the lead for a 11-3 victory. Other scoring for Garden City was Ryan Norell (3 goals, 1 assist); Brian Kiernan (3 goals, 2 assists); Kevin Seiferth (3 assists); Max Auricchio (1 goal, 1 assist); Max Bankin (1 goal); Kevin Betts (1 goal); Nick Greco (1 goal); Tom Rossidis (1 assist); Brian Collins (1 assist).

Excellent game for defensemen Kevin Rice, Brian Collins, David Brown, Tom Rossidis, and Kevin Seiferth as they faced numerous odd man rushes in this very wide-open game. The goalkeeping tandem of Jeff Greco and Tom Hickcox were sharp in the nets for Garden City. Both Greco and Hickcox finished the evening with 10 saves. The only negative for the evening was the loss of forward Aaron Kim with a broken finger early in the first period. Aaron will be out for a month, joining Conor Sweeney and Mike Makris on the Garden City injured list.

On Friday, October 29, Garden City faced off against Levittown High School in an important division game. The previous meeting between these two teams was in last year’s playoff finals. Garden City controlled the early play in the first period, but was unable to get anything past the Levittown goaltender. Midway through the first period, Levittown was able to capitalize on a scoring opportunity and took a 1-0 lead. Injuries continued for Garden City as the team lost Nick Greco early in the first period. Garden City had several quality scoring opportunities but continued to be frustrated by the Levittown net minder. With four seconds remaining in the period, Ryan Norell scored to tie the game. Kyle Seiferth and Brian Kiernan assisted on Norell’s goal.

In the second period, Garden City continued to apply pressure on the Levittown goalie. With under a minute left in the period, Max Auricchio stole the puck from a Levittown defender. Auricchio got the puck to Kevin Betts, who was down low in the corner. As the other Levittown defenseman slid over to cover him, Betts made a great pass over to Kyle Seiferth who slammed the puck into the back of the Levittown net to give Garden City a 2-1 lead. At the other end of the ice, goalie Jeff Greco had a great second period.

The third period featured end-to-end action with both teams unable to get anything by the goaltenders. In the final minute of play, Levittown pulled their goaltender for an extra skater. After two point blank saves by Jeff Greco, Kevin Seiferth sent the puck the length of the ice into the open Levittown net to seal a 3-1 victory for Garden City. Besides making the crucial saves in the last minute, goalie Jeff Greco was credited with an assist on last Garden City goal. Greco finished the game with 25+ saves in the victory.

Another strong game for the Garden City defensemen: Brian Collins, Kevin Rice, Tom Rossidis, David Brown, and Kevin Seiferth.

Eighteen hours later, Garden City was back on the ice facing a strong Bellmore/Merrick High School team. Bellmore jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, as they scored in the first minute of play. Garden City drew even midway through the first period on an unassisted goal by Kevin Seiferth. The remainder of the period belonged to Bellmore, who scored twice to take a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period. The deficit would have been worse for Garden City if not for a couple of good saves by goaltender Tom Hickcox during the period.

Early in the second period, Bellmore struck again and a sluggish Garden City squad was now trailing 4-1. Shortly after their fourth goal, Bellmore took a penalty. Garden City was able to take advantage with Brian Kiernan scoring a power-play goal, assisted by Conor Reeves and Ryan Norell. Bellmore stormed back a minute later and regained their three-goal advantage. Midway through the period, Garden City made a goaltending change as Freshman Dave Logan made his varsity debut. Logan was immediately tested and made several good saves, which seemed to spark Garden City.

In the first minute of the third period, Garden City pulled within two goals of Bellmore as Brian Kiernan scored, assisted by Ryan Norell and Tom Rossidis. Bellmore responded by scoring two goals midway through the third period and enjoyed a comfortable four-goal lead. With less than five minutes to play, Brian Kiernan scored off a pass from Kevin Seiferth. Forty-two seconds later, Kiernan scored a power-play goal off a pass by Brian Collins. Garden City made it a one-goal game with two minutes left to play as Brian Kiernan scored his fifth goal of the game, assisted by Kevin Seiferth and Ryan Norell. With Garden City now only trailing by a goal, Conor Reeves drew a Bellmore penalty. With the Garden City net open for an extra skater, Ryan Norell was able to gain possession of the puck in the offensive zone with under twenty seconds to play. Norell slid the puck back to Kevin Seiferth at the point Seiferth blasted a low shot that Conor Reeves deflected past the Bellmore goaltender for the game-tying goal with fourteen seconds remaining in the game!

Great team effort in earning a 7-7 tie. Goaltender Dave Logan had an excellent varsity debut, finishing the game with 15+ saves. David Brown, normally a defenseman, once again played a good game at wing to help offset the injuries to forwards. Linemates Max Auriccihio and Max Bankin generated multiple scoring opportunities and helped kill several Garden City penalties. Defensemen Kevin Rice, Brian Collins, Tom Rossidis, and Kevin Seiferth should be congratulated for a good job against the high scoring Bellmore offense. Kevin Seiferth had a plus four rating for the game.

The Wings next game is Monday, November 8 against Oceanside High School. Game time is at 9:40 p.m. at the Iceworks Rink in Syosset. Please visit www.gcwings.org for a complete game schedule or for additional information on the Wings.