ATTLEBORO, Mass. — The 16U Long Island Gulls proved why they're one of the better teams in the country on Sunday, taking down Mid Fairfield, another outstanding squad, 6-1, to win the Beast playoffs.
The Gulls rattled off three goals in the first period, getting scoring from forwards Jesse Orlowsky, Nicolas Sykora and Marko Lisica to take a 3-0 lead into the second half.
Mid Fairfield got its lone goal with 4:29 left in the game when forward Luke Dow (Orange, Conn.) found forward Jack Kennedy high in the slot and hit him with a pass. Kennedy fired the puck into the back of the net to cut the lead to 3-1, but the Gulls came roaring back.
First, it was Cooper Dennis scoring off the rush. Orlowsky followed that with an empty-net goal and Ethan Wyttenbach sniped a shot in the dying seconds to get the Gulls to six goals.
Here are five standouts from the game.
Cooper Dennis
Long Island Gulls, 5/7/2007, F, right shot, 5-6/150
Hometown: Ithaca, N.Y.
When Dennis had the puck on his stick, he was incredibly dynamic. He was able to carry the puck quite a bit and find smart routes into the offensive zone. That continued inside the zone. At one point, it was 4-on-4 and Dennis had the puck the most. A little bit of space went a long way for the former Bishop Kearney Selects standout. He assisted on Sykora's power play marker in the first half and then scored a nice goal late in the second, putting the game on ice. He drove the net hard and knocked in a rebound.
John Fichthorn
Mid Fairfield, 5/10/2007, G, catches left, 5-9/161
Hometown: Darien, Conn.Â
It just wasn't Mid Fairfield's game on Sunday. The lone bright spot was Fichthorn, who kept his team in it. Late in the first half, there was a sequence when Fichthorn was down and out, but still made three consecutive stops on rebounds. Fichthorn's best came in the second half when he consistently thwarted the Gulls, keeping the score at 3-0. Mid Fairfield also got terrific goaltending earlier in the day from Steven Luciano (New Canaan, Conn.) to get past the New Jersey Rockets and into the championship game. Both goalies will be in prep hockey this winter with Fichthorn at Westminster and Luciano at Salisbury.
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Jesse Orlowsky
Long Island Gulls, 3/27/2007, F, right shot, 6-2/201
Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
NCAA: Harvard
Orlowsky set the tone early. He got a breakaway to open the game and fired one through Fichthorn's legs to get the Gulls on the board. As the game progressed, he was a big reason why his team spent most of the game in the offensive zone. What may have impressed me most was his backcheck at the other end of the ice. Dow looked to have a clear scoring chance and Orlowsky hustled back and sprawled out to knock the puck free.
Nicolas Sykora
Long Island Gulls, 5/24/2007, F, left shot, 6-0/170
Hometown: Roseland, N.J.
NCAA: QuinnipiacÂ
The recent Quinnipiac commit scored early on the power play, receiving the puck at the left faceoff dot and firing a shot past Fichthorn. Sykora was a centerpiece of the offense all game, consistently finding places to get his strong shot off. His big frame helped him protect the puck and get to high-danger areas.
Ethan Wyttenbach
Long Island Gulls, 2/10/2007, F, right shot, 5-10/170
Hometown: Roslyn, N.Y.
NCAA: QuinnipiacÂ
Wyttenbach's shiftiness and vision were on display all game. He found Orlowsky for that breakaway early in the game by picking his head up and threading the needle between two Mid Fairfield defenders to the Harvard commit. Wyttenbach gained a bunch of zone entries for the Gulls and had multiple scoring chances throughout. He was able to find a soft spot in the slot and get a point-blank chance on Fichthorn late in the first half. He hit the post on the power play early in the second. Oh, and the goal was pretty cool — just a snipe over the glove.
