Adam Davies, who had two assists, dribbles the ball past a Carle Place defender. Photo by Newsphoto.com Did you ever feel like it was going to be your lucky day? The kind of day where you go and buy a Lotto ticket even though you don't usually play? Well, that was the general mood of the Blazers players and their parents on Saturday April 29 when they arrived in Carle Place to play an away game. The Blazers had been playing very well all season and were looking for this win. It is difficult to say that it was their lucky day, but rather, their teamwork came together throughout the entire (very physical) game.

At the start of the first half, the Blazers took an early lead when Adam Davies passed the ball to Brendan Harney who scored the first goal of the game for the Blazers. This was Brendan's second goal of the season in as many games and led the Blazers off with a 1:0 lead. Brendan not only scored but he lost a tooth (one that was loose and on its way out) on the play! Adam Davies, Brendan Harney, Joseph Giarraputo and Matt Kelly played forward for the first half while Reed Bonvissuto, Justin Gong, Aidan Logan and Zach Miner were defending with Patrick Mohan in goal. Just after the excitement of the first game goal and lost tooth, Matt Kelly zigzagged down the field, successfully navigating around several Carle Place players, and scored his first goal of the game bringing the Blazers to a 2:0 lead.

Matt Kelly, who scored three goals during the game, goes high above a Carle Place player to maintain possession. Photo by Newsphoto.com In another great play that evidenced the Blazers teamwork, the ball was successfully passed among ALL the Blazers players in the same play and ultimately to Joseph Giarraputo who took a shot on goal for a near score. While the ball went over the top of the goal, it was a very exciting play to watch and had the sidelines on edge. Shortly after this play, Justin took a hard ball to the face twice within a minute but was able to recover and continue play with his teammates. What commitment! On defense, Reed Bonvissuto was exceptional making some great plays throughout play. Patrick Mohan also made some great moves including one where he came way out in front of the goal and dove for another great save. The Blazers ended halftime with a 2:0 lead.

Justin Gong shows great ball control during game action against Carle Place. Photo by Newsphoto.com Aidan Logan was in the Blazers goal for the second half and he followed Patrick's example and helped to keep the Carle Place Fireballs scoreless for the rest of the game. In a play that may have been the save of the year, Aidan jumped up very high and deflected the ball up and over the goal net to prevent scoring. What a great move Aidan! Early in the second half, the game continued to be very physical as Matt Kelly went into an in air collision with a Carle Place player as they both struggled to gain control of the ball. Both players however were able to continue play. The Blazers next goal came as Joseph Giarraputo passed to Justin Gong who passed to Matt Kelly who dribbled the ball further down field and into the goal for a 3:0 Blazers lead.

After one Carle Place player went down with another hard ball to the face and another went down with an unintentional kick, play continued. Adam Davies made another great pass to Matt Kelly who scored for the Blazers bringing them to a 4:0 lead. This was Adam's second assist of the game. Great job Adam! As for Matt, this goal earned him a Hat Trick. How great is that? Matt is now the second player to score a Hat Trick for the Blazers. All the Blazers (along with the coaches and the parents) were very excited now for Matt's Hat.

The physical game continued as both teams gave all they had and used every part of their bodies to get the job done. At one point late in the second half, the ball was kicked out of play and hit a Carle Place spectator pretty hard. There was fear that he would go down also but he was okay. The last injury of the game happened to Adam Davies who had a possible Achilles tendon injury (he was later okay). The Blazers were not content with the lead they had and scored yet another goal with an unassisted play by Zach Miner. Great goal Zach! The game final was 5:0 Blazers. It was a big win (and Carle Place's first loss of the season!) After a very exhausting and physically intensive game, the Blazers went on to Baskin Robbins for some much-deserved ice cream. It was obviously more than just the Blazers lucky day. Great teamwork Blazers!!!