Going into this prime-time matchup between Smithtown East vs West, most if not all of us were expecting two high power offenses to flex their muscles and demonstrate their abilities to fill up the goal. In front of a sold-out stadium, with the West fans on one side and the East fans on the other, it was team defense and unbelievable goalie play that defined this game. A 7-5 finish in favor of Smithtown East was led by Thomas Harkin, the uncommitted reclassified 2018, with 18 save. Harkin was virtually unbeatable, saving everything high, possessing great footwork along with great hand-eye coordination. If you ask Harkin, we would say his 18 saves was a result of, “the defense talked a lot, 2-slides, hot-slides, we were really communicating and our defense made me look a lot better.” Talk about a team player. On the other side of the field was Ryan Erler, the Senior Stony Brook Commit, who only had 6 saves but every one of those kept West in the game. Without Erler in net, this game would have been a blowout for the Bulls of the East.
The big three, Desimone, Eschbach, and Burns, for Smithtown East were surprisingly quiet, combining for only 3 points on the day. Desimone did a nice job in the clearing game, riding game, and in transition. With that said, it was Sean Barry and Michael Latini that asserted themselves as dominant players on the offensive end of the field. In FLG’s post game interview, Latini said: “It was important for us to play fast in transition but to settle it down so we could have full possessions and run our set offenses”. Both Barry & Latini has great stick skills and an intelligence about their game to know where the slides are coming from. These two studletes combined for 6 points on the day and really propelled their group to maintain a lead that was never given away.
As for West, Connor Calderone, the Sophomore Maryland Commit, obliterated everyone East threw at him on the face-off X. The sophomore won 11 face-offs only losing 3. This allowed for West to dominate time of possession throughout the game. However, it was Smithtown West’s lack of offensive cohesiveness that led to rushed possessions and undesirable shots on goal. Shots right to HArkin’s stick resulted in tired middies and a frustrated offensive unit. East now sitting at 4-2, and is poised to make a run at a County Championship. While West is sitting at 4-3, they still have all the attributes to be a powerhouse team. If they can click offensively and continue to dominant at the X, they can run deep in Suffolk Class A.
