WARD MELVILLE 8 SMITHTOWN 3

4/13/99  SETAUKET, NEW YORK

A sunny, breezy day in the low 50's on the backfield at Melville. The game was well attended. It seemed like everyone wanted to see what this inexperienced team could do against hard working Smithtown. Their opponent came to play and played to win. Melville came out better in the early going than they did against Baldwin with Drew Casino more settled at the face-off to give Melville control. The boys capitalized with the first goal early in the game followed by two more for a 3-0 lead. Smithtown pressed and scored from the outside for their first goal which was quickly answered for a 4-1 first quarter tally. Goalie Derek Kunkel had a strong game in nets holding off Smithtown's shooters during the 3-0 run giving the defense time to work things out. Melville's offense then slowed down and tried to find itself. Most of the second quarter saw uneven play and less effective work on ground balls and unsettled situations. Smithtown was quick to turn these into goals and worked back to a 4-3 deficit with over 4 minutes left in the half. One more mis-que left a Smithtown shooter all alone at the doorstep to tie the game but he shot wide and the fans let out a long breath.

The 4-3 halftime lead was better than being down one goal to Baldwin at the half, but surely not where they wanted to be. Smithtown's defense played tough all day and came out with no less energy for the second half, showing many different looks to our inexperienced offense which was playing without injured senior Derrick Preuss. There was some trading of possessions early in the third quarter as the offense kept searching for a rhythm while the defense led by Chris Passavia tightened up considerably. Adding to the mix were some very good plays by Brian Mendez and by Nick Belvedere who made the right moves to break up a two on one break on his side and in his face. Mike Carolan also stepped it up and won some aggressive challenges. The defense held Smithtown scoreless for the entire second half showing their improvement as a unit after the second game of the season. Melville then stepped up the play mid-way in the third as the midfield began to control the ball and move more quickly in unsettled situations. Brendan Morgan had some terrific plays as he rode his defenseman hard and created a turnover that created goal number  five on a feed to Monfett. Matt worked hard all game and faced Smithtown's best defenseman for most of the contest. He was again very effective with his quickness and agility. Todd Cunningham did a good job filling the third spot getting a key assist.

Morgan's play sparked a four goal run that ended the scoring at 8-3. Willy Passavia had a strong game at midfield with excellent ground ball work and controlled possession leading to a few goals and opportunities for the team. Chris Biel and Kurt Gerry played very well as Chris did another good job facing off and moving the ball. Kurt moved well on and off the ball and scored on a hard earned opportunity. Brett Raboy also put one in. The star of today's game had to be Ward Melville's goalie Derek Kunkel.  His play was terrific and kept Melville in the game. Many of his 13 saves came under pressure situations at key times during the game.  Great job Derek! They're not there yet- but they're getting better all the time.

TEAM

SMITHTOWN

TOTALS