LONG BEACH SHARKS SWEEP OPENING SERIES

LONG BEACH, NY – Talk about first impressions, the Long Beach Sharks opened their NA3HL season in grand fashion beating the East Coast Minutemen 14-2 on Friday night and then 5-4 in overtime Saturday night. 

It was certainly a night to remember on Friday as the Sharks began their inaugural season under a new team name and new home as the crowd was into it from the start. The nerves were certainly going in the first four minutes of the opening game as the Sharks went down 1-0. Kyle Sada, one of the new players to the Sharks this season got the equalizer at the 12:00 minute mark of period one. Veteran Gunther Stange and newcomer Hal Gemignani picked up goals as well in the opening period.

Those goals were just the start for the Sharks as they exploded for 7 goals in the second period. It started within the first 24 seconds as Sam Weidenbaum got the scoring of the period going. Top line winger Zach Ruley came right back 34 seconds later to bury the puck in the net and the Sharks pulled away from there. Another new addition and highly touted center Martins Vitolins from Latvia picked up his first two goals within that offensive outburst period. Stange, Oskar Lindberg and Alex Pilatsky all contributed as well. 

The third period continued just the same as the second period. It was 11 straight goals since going down 1-0 in the first before the Minutemen were able to get back on the board but the game was already over at that point. A night to remember certainly for Martins Vitolins who picked up the hat-trick and tallied 7 points. 

Saturday night started with the honoring the victims of the September 11th attacks with a moment of silent prayer and a ceremonial puck drop by general manager of the FDNY hockey team Bill Kammerer. 

It wasn’t the same result as the night before but the job was done but it wasn’t as easy. The Minutemen came back with a strong performance and were able to match the Sharks for much of the play. The Sharks had all sorts of trouble getting their game going in the first period and the Minutemen were up 1-0. The game picked up in period two and it went back and forth. Keegan Brick and Vitolins picked up a pair of goals each. The Sharks were up 4-3 at the end of two. It was a tightly played game in period three but the Minutemen clawed back after killing off penalties and the brilliant performance of goalie Nick Kent who made 62 saves in the losing effort. 

Zach Ruley in the three on three overtime was able to convert and capture the weekend sweep. It was a great weekend for the fans and the team. Next up is the defending champion Cape Cod Islanders next Saturday.