Smithtown wins Suffolk Championship

Smithtown proved to be the best team in Suffolk, as the Bulls beat Connetquot-Sayville 4-2 in Game 2 of the Suffolk County High School Hockey League Championship to sweep the series and earn its first Suffolk title under head coach Vincent Granice.

Joseph Rubino broke a 2-2 tie with 11:31 left in the third period and Smithtown added an insurance goal with five minutes left to play to secure the title Wednesday, at the Rinx in Hauppauge.

“It feels great,” Granice said. “The kids all year long spoke about finishing the job and going all the way and they stayed focused. [Connetquot-Sayville] is a very difficult team but we stuck to our game plan and played tremendous.”

Connetquot-Sayville took an early 1-0 lead and held it through the end of the first period, but Smithtown quickly answered and went on top with two goals early in the second. The T-Birds tied the score with 40 seconds left in the second period to force a 2-2 tie heading into the third, but Rubino’s goal put Smithtown up for good in the final frame.

Connetquot-Sayville went on the powerplay trailing 4-2 with three minutes left, but even with an extra attacker and the goalie pulled, could not score.

“It was a great win,” Granice said. “The kids played a tremendous game, just like I thought [they would].”

Thomas Dunn was named the MVP of the Suffolk Playoffs and was crucial in the championship round. Dunn recorded four assists in the series opener, a 4-3 Bulls victory, and put Smithtown ahead 2-1 in the second period of game two with a powerplay goal.

“We just had some great play from [Dunn] again [in game two],” Granice said.

Smithtown and Connetquot-Sayville finished with identical regular-season records of 19-1, losing their only games against each other. Connetquot-Sayville clinched first place in the SCHSL over Smithtown because it allowed fewer goals on the season, but ultimately the Smithtown came out on top in what was a highly anticipated and very much expected championship-series match-up.