Five Players Declared Ineligible In Lions 11-3 Loss To Sachem

The West Islip Lions started the 2010 varsity ice hockey season the exact same way they ended the 2009 season--with a loss to Sachem.

The Lions fell to the Arrows by a score of 11-3 Monday night at the Rinx in Hauppauge.

The score is a little misleading, however. The Arrows did dominate the game, but it wasn't because they were a far superior team. It was because of exhaustion.

The game took an unexpected turn midway through the first period, when five West Islip skaters were removed from the ice because of a "paperwork formality."

The five Lions removed: Alex Berland, Paul Iannacchino, Justin Mujica, Travis Schall and Mike Andolena, were excused from the game because their paperwork wasn't filed prior to the deadline set by the S.C.H.S.I.H.L..

"It creates a hole, a huge hole," said West Islip head coach George Ober. "Once you start losing players, you just can't keep up with them."

The Lions had a strong start to the beginning of the game. Just over a minute into the game, Lions' center Anthony Sirico put the puck passed Sachem goaltender Brandon Bassett.

That strong play would not last once the West Islip bench was depleted.

"We started off real well," Ober said. "We were playing physical, shooting the puck, playing good defense and keeping them to the outside."

Then, Sachem took over.  The Arrows opened their scoring rout when defenseman Christopher Haun took three swipes at a loose puck, swatting it by Lions' goalie Tom Rubin.

Just over two minutes later, Alex Posillico made it 3-1 Arrows, when he ripped a snapshot in the slot passed Rubin.  That was the first of Posillico's two goals. He also added two assists on the night.

The Lions had a chance to put a dent into Sachem's lead late in the first period, when the Arrows took three-consecutive penalties to finish the period.

West Islip failed to generate any sort of offense on the five-on-three power play. The fatigue of having a short bench was already setting in.

"They were gassed," Ober said. "It was like it was a five-on-five. They were just done."

The exhaustion that the Lions were facing really showed in the shots column, getting out-shot 47-8.

On top of the players being removed from the game, the West Islip bench was shortened even further when they were assessed two, over-lapping 10-minute misconducts.

"We take those penalties, already short-benched, you can't do that." Ober said.

The Lions added two goals late in the third period by Tom Connor and Jason Eiermann, but by that point, the game was already out of reach.

West Islip was eliminated from the playoffs last season in the quarter-finals by the Arrows.

The Lions will look to even up their record with a full team next Monday, when they skate against Connetquot-Sayville at 9 p.m..