Long Beach Hockey Captures Second County Title

For the second consecutive season, Long Beach won a hockey title, but this year the Marines triumphed in their county.

The LBHS hockey squad followed their championship in Suffolk last year
by sweeping Syosset to earn another title in the High School Hockey League of Nassau County on Wednesday.

After taking the first game of the best-of-three series Tuesday, 4-2, Evan Schwartz scored a hat trick and Tom McGovern had five assists as the Marines scored five powerplay goals to dominate Syosset in Bethpage, 10-1, according to Newsday.

Coach Joe Brand, who with the victory earned his eighth county title, chalked up his team’s play Wednesday as among the best he has seen. “That was probably the greatest team effort I’ve ever been a part of in my fourteen years coaching hockey,” Brand told Patch on Thursday.

The Marines, who finished second in the Michelino Division behind Syosset with a 16-4-1 record and 33 points, earned its first division title since the 2005-2006 season.

Last year, the Marines squad played in their first season in the Suffolk County High School Hockey League and captured the county championship by defeating the Connetquot/Sayville T-Birds, followed by a state championship victory against Hudson Valley’s Arlington Admirals, both series of which were played at the Rinx in Hauppauge.The Marines came up short, though, when later they travelled to Illinois to compete in the USA Hockey High School National Championship, playing teams from the host state, California and Texas.

Long Beach will look to defend their state title when they host the state tournament at the Long Beach Ice Arena March 2.