Hockey title a first for Oceanside

East Williston had Oceanside’s number during the regular season, winning all three meetings between the top two teams in Nassau’s Liberty Division, but the Sailors got revenge when it mattered most.

Junior Andrew Green had a career-high four goals, and senior Joe Mitchell and sophomore Kieran Hurley each scored twice as Oceanside captured its first-ever league hockey championship with a 9-4 victory last Sunday evening at the Town of Oyster Bay Ice Skating Center in Bethpage.

Green, a defenseman with speed and slick moves, scored twice in the second and third periods to help the Sailors pull away in the third and decisive game of the finals. They won Game 1, 6-4, Feb. 14, and East Williston took Game 2, 5-4, the following night.

“I’ve been coaching this team for 18 years and it’s just a tremendous feeling,” Oceanside coach Bill Clark said. “I can’t say enough about the coaching staff and all these kids. They’ve worked hard all year.”

Unlike their wild come-from-behind 6-5 semifinal playoff victory over Lynbrook, the Sailors (16-8-1) never trailed in Game 3 of the championship series and scored some highlight-reel goals along the way.

After Hurley and Nicholas Kelapire traded goals in the opening period, East Williston goaltender Graham Turk dazzled early in the second to keep it tied. Turk robbed Mitchell twice and also denied senior Doug DiDominica from close range, but the Sailors eventually broke through and found the net often.

“We wanted to put the puck on net as much as we possibly could,” said senior defenseman Brian Hurley, who netted the winner against Lynbrook and had three assists in Game 3 of the finals.

Less than a minute after Green’s first goal of the night put Oceanside ahead for good with 8:32 remaining in the second, sophomore Mike Jennings made a nifty move around a defenseman and beat Turk with a backhander to make it 3-1. 

The Wildcats responded on Matthew Bernot’s penalty shot, but Green answered with a dazzling end-to-end goal and Mitchell finished a give-and-go with Brian Hurley to give the Sailors a 5-2 lead heading into the third.