Thunderbirds Crack Lions' New Dump-And-Chase Offense

Looking up at the scoreboard following the final buzzer and seeing the red lights flashing "9-1," it's hard to imagine the team on the losing end improved from their last contest against the victor.

Unless you were watching the West Islip Lions varsity hockey team, that is.

The Lions (1-12-1) fell to the Connetquot/Sayville Thunderbirds (10-3) Wednesday night, 9-1, at the Rinx in Hauppauge.

Although, statistically, the game was very similar to the the Thunderbirds laid on the Lions in the second game of the year, it was actually a large improvement for the Lions' overall play.

"This wasn't as bad as it looked," said Lions head coach George Ober. "Once we followed the system, we were able to slow it down."

The system, which Ober referenced, is a new game plan that the coaching staff implemented prior to a 4-4 tie against Hudson Valley this past Saturday night.

West Islip's new philosophy is to play a dump-and-chase offense, staggering three attackers in the offensive zone, while playing a box-plus-one zone coverage defense.

Essentially, the Lions are trying to trap their opponents as they come into the neutral zone and keep their scoring opportunities to low-risk chances from the outsides of the ice.

Ironically, the new system was working well for the Lions, until they went on the power play midway through the first period.

With teammate David Cahn serving a minor for interference, forward Tyler Young scooped up a neutral-zone turnover and beat Lions goaltender Tom Rubin to put the T-Birds up 1-0.

Less than a minute later, still short-handed, Nicholas Russo again capitalized on a West Islip turnover, this time along the sideboards, putting his team up 2-0 when he ripped a wrist shot passed Rubin.

"It killed us," Ober said of the squandered power play.

With the momentum firmly shifting into their favor, the T-Birds added a third goal just over a minute later, when Joe Bizzaro redirected Daniel Monahan's centering pass behind Rubin.

The Lions managed to soften the deficit, however, when defenseman David Cantor lofted a shot towards the T-Birds net that eluded goaltender Brett Ficken with just over two minutes to go in the period.

Unfortunately for the Lions, that was the lone goal on the game, while the T-Birds kept flying.

"We got tired and we couldn't just keep up with them anymore," said Lions defenseman Sean Flaherty. "We just lost our legs."

The Lions began to tire down midway through the second period.

Although they only surrendered one goal in the second 15 minutes, the way the goal transpired was a clear indication that West Islip's tank was beginning to empty.

In the midst of an extended shift, T-Birds pointman Jimmy Farino chipped the puck by a pinching West Islip defenseman to Bizzaro, which caught four Lions trapped in the offensive zone. Bizzaro broke down on a 2-on-1 and sniped a shot passed Rubin's glove.

"The forwards kept getting caught deep in the zone and there were a lot of odd-man rushes back on the "D" and we couldn't stop them," Flaherty said.

According to Flaherty, the Lions lack of sticking to their dump-and-chase game plan is what caused them to allow the game to slip away.

"We have to keep going through with it to the end of the game… it works."

The T-Birds squashed any chance the Lions had at mounting a late comeback by scoring five goals in the third.

The five goals were enough to seal the Lions' fate, but it easily could have been more had it not been for West Islip's goaltending tandem of Rubin and David Colarossi -- and their two best friends.

"We hit about eight posts tonight," said T-Birds head coach Bruce Kollmar. "That and their goalies really stood on their heads tonight."

Although the outcome wasn't nearly what he had hoped, Ober believes that in the long run, their system will pay dividends for future games.

"We just started [the system] a couple of days ago; it's a learning experience."

The Lions next take the ice in a rematch of last weekend's contest against Hudson Valley, Sunday Dec. 12 at 4:50 p.m.

Lions

Shots On Goal- 6

Goals- D. Cantor (1)

Saves- T. Rubin (20), D. Colarossi (11)

T-Birds

Shots On Goal- 40

Goals- N. Russo (2), T. Young (2), J. Bizzaro (2), B. Fenster, C. O'Leary, D. Cahn

Assists- R. Robertson (2), D. Miller (2), G. Leocadi, B. Fenster, D. Monahan, N. Russo, R. Albinski, J. Farino

Saves- B. Ficken (5)