The Long Island Gulls U16 team entered this weekend in 5th place in the AYHL with a record of 8-5-1-2.  With two home games scheduled against AYHL foes, they had a chance to move up in the standings.

On Saturday afternoon, the Gulls cross-town rivals, the Long Island Royals, came to Twin Rinks.  The Gulls came out strong and after several great chances, capitalized late in the first period on a 4-on-4 goal scored by Michael Muschitiello.  The home team would add a couple more in the second period as well.  Muschitiello found the back of the net again, this time on the power play, for his second of the game. 

Chris Garbe put the Gulls up 3-0 after he poked in a rebound off a shot from Devin Heffernan.  The Gulls played tight defensively through two periods, allowing just 13 shots to reach goaltender Vinny Capezza.  The defense, lead by Giancarlo Romano and Jake Dima blocked 8 shots combined.  The Gulls would make things difficult in the third period, taking unnecessary penalties that lead to two Royals goals.  But Capezza and company held on for the 3-2 victory. 

The New Jersey Devils then came into town on Sunday morning.  The first period saw some inconsistent play by the Gulls that allowed the Devils to score three times on Capezza.  The Gulls would get a couple on their own, first by Michael Conlin picking up a puck in the slot after a nifty move by Michael Muschitiello.  Late in the period, Thomas Finck would bang in a loose puck on a wrist shot by Jackson Koblick. 

Down 3-2 after the first, the Gulls began to pick up their play.  They finally tied the game at 3-3 with just five minutes left in the second frame after Garbe deflected a long shot by Koblick. 

The game stayed tied for more than 17 minutes until a point shot by Michael Costello was redirected by Garbe.  The shot didn’t go in but Finck was there to score on the rebound for the game winner. 

Capezza stopped the final 19 shots he faced.  The Gulls outshot the Devils 35-29 and were particularly strong on faceoffs (73%) lead by centers Finck, Conlin, and Marko Cohen.

The successful weekend has put the Gulls in 4th place in the AYHL with 23 points.