Garden City Wings Ice Hockey Club
Wings Varsity 10/10/03 Game Summary
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Varsity Wings Start Season with a Victory

The Garden City Wings Varsity ice hockey team began their 31st season in the Nassau High School Hockey League with an opening night 4-2 victory over a strong Carey High School team. The game started with end-to-end action as goalie Brendan Collins was tested right from the drop of the opening puck. The Wings got on the board early as Brian Kiernan drove home a rebound off a Mike Makris shot at 1:56 into the first period. The goal was a result of strong corner work by both Ryan Boelsen and Ryan Norell.

The Wings got a break a minute later when Carey was called for a bench minor penalty. Forwards Gerry Diamond, John Iamascia, and Max Aurruchio immediately applied pressure, creating several scoring opportunities during the first minute of the power play. After a line change, the pressure continued and the Wings were able to capitalize. From an offensive zone face off, Ryan Boelsen slid the puck back to Kevin Seiferth who ripped a shot that was deflected in by Brian Kiernan.

Carey finally got one past Brendan Collins to make it 2-1 at the 6 minute mark. Fast paced action continued and with a little under four minutes left in the first period the Wings were called for a questionable tripping penalty. The Wings successfully killed off the penalty with defensemen Kevin Seiferth, Kevin Rice, Brian Collins, and Mike Makris controlling play in front of their net with assistance from penalty killing forwards Conor Reeves, Conor Sweeney, Gerry Diamond and Brian Kiernan.

The high speed tempo of play continued into the second period with strong goaltending dominating both ends of the ice. Carey kept trying to break out a forward behind the GC defense, but the blue-liners were up to the challenge during the period. Carey was successful once, but Brendan Collins held his ground and stopped the breakaway. The Wings had several good chances during the period. The line of Conor Sweeney, Conor Reeves and Kevin Betts had several strong shifts during the period, cycling the puck down low in the offensive zone to create many good scoring opportunities. Forward Kyle Seiferth continued his strong varsity debut with a couple of good shifts up front during the period. Forward Greg Flaster outhustled the Carey defense to produce two scoring chances, but was denied each time by the Carey goaltender.

The third period started with GC clinging to a 2-1 lead. Carey broke through to tie the game with nine minutes left in the game. With the score now tied, the Wings seemed to pick up their game. Forwards Gerry Diamond, John Iamascia and Max Aurruchio got GC going with a solid shift following the Carey goal. On the next shift, with seven minutes remaining, GC put in the game winner as Captain Ryan Boelsen slammed home a behind the back pass from Ryan Norell. The remainder of the game featured GC going into a defensive mode. Centers Gerry Diamond and Conor Reeves excelled in their assignment to stay high, shadowing the first Carey forward out of the zone. Wings John Iamascia, Max Aurruchio, Conor Sweeney and Kevin Betts did the forechecking down low, making sure never to get caught with two men deep. After Carey pulled their goaltender for an extra skater, Ryan Norell sealed the victory with an empty net goal with 1 second remaining.

Overall the game featured the strong defensive play that GC will need throughout the season. Defensemen Brian Collins, Mike Makris, Kevin Rice and Kevin Seiferth all had strong games, beating the Carey forwards to loose pucks and clearing the slot area. Senior goaltender Brendan Collins was exceptional, consistently controlling rebounds and not allowing Carey any follow up opportunities. Collins finished the evening with 30+ saves.

The next game is Sunday October 19th at 9:30pm at the Newbridge rink in Bellmore, as the Wings take on Island Trees High School. Please visit www.gcwings.org for a complete game schedule or for additional information on the Wings.


Wings celebrate the first goal of the season


Ryan Norell fights to the net


Wings celebrate the game winner in the third period


Ryan Boelsen awaits the drop of the puck.


Max Aurruchio fights along the glass for a loose puck

Game photos courtesy of Frank McNamara

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