For East Williston, winter break comes just in time

No team needs a holiday more than East Williston’s hockey squad.

After starting the season 9-0-2, the Wildcats have recently endured injuries, illnesses and family tragedies, and as a result have lost three straight games with a depleted lineup heading into the winter break.

“We’ve just had all these things happening at once,” coach Jon Turk said. “We’ve just been decimated.”

The hardships began on Dec. 13 with a frustrating 9-4 loss to Garden City.

With top defenseman Jake Levy already out of the lineup battling a week-long illness, East Williston entered the game without its head coach and starting goalie, Turk’s son Graham, as the two were mourning the loss of Jon Turk’s father who had passed away on Dec. 10. On top of their absence, the team’s leading scorer Brian Engbarth suffered a concussion during the game, leading to the squad’s lopsided defeat. Engbarth will be out indefinitely with the injury, according to Turk.

“It was just a combination of hits to the head over the last three games, nothing really big hit him,” Turk said. “That game was certainly a let down. We really just hung in there with very few kids.”

And it didn’t get any easier from there. With the lineup still in flux, East Williston fell 6-0 to defending state-champion Long Beach on Monday, and on Wednesday was handled by defending Michelino champions Massapequa, 8-2.

“We knew we’d hit tough teams [in this part of the schedule] but it’s unfortunate we don’t have our full squad,” coach Jon Turk said. “The last two games we’ve played we’ve been missing our core. It’s been tough to play those two really good teams.”

Prior to the team’s unexpected instability, Turk said his squad showed great chemistry and a positive attitude off the ice that translated to a fluid, team-oriented style on it.  He said the team is focused on defense and goaltending and it was that mindset and success that he believes will allow the Wildcats to put their season back on track.

“The main thing for us is we were just playing as a team, it was a happy locker room, happy bench, it was all clicking, no one was hogging the puck, or trash talking and it was showing on the ice,” he said. “These kids never quit, they came to play [and] they never got upset. I said [after the Massapequa loss Wednesday] you’ll carry this in to the New Year and we’ll build on it. Every team goes through these stretches in hockey and we just have to put this behind us.”

The team's next game is Jan. 7 against Levittown.