St. Anthony's boys ice hockey's Thomas Azzariti, Jordan Valcich lift Friars in Game 1 of Suffolk final

A game that lived up to the hype in every way — and then some.

A 10:10 p.m. puck drop proved worth the wait as St. Anthony’s and Smithtown/Hauppauge exchanged fireworks all night long. Regulation and 10 minutes of overtime weren’t enough in this heavyweight bout.

Tied at 5, a shootout loomed. Thomas Azzariti’s finish put the Friars ahead, and Smithtown/Hauppauge needed a goal to stay alive.

Friars netminder Jordan Valcich made the pad save, and the crowd erupted.

“That was the greatest feeling — I’ve never felt anything like it,” Valcich said. “I knew that last shot determined a lot for the series. It was a mental thing. I got in a groove.”

Valcich stopped all three attempts in the shootout, lifting No. 2 St. Anthony’s to a 6-5 victory over No. 1 Smithtown/Hauppauge in Game 1 of the Suffolk finals at The Rinx on Friday night.

“This team is built from the net out — it starts with him,” St. Anthony’s coach Bob Lund said. “In Jordan we trust.”

Game 2 is scheduled at 9:40 p.m. Monday at The Rinx in Hauppauge. 

Two years ago, Smithtown/Hauppauge won a shootout in Game 2 of the finals and went on to capture the championship. Azzariti missed in that game, but this time he delivered.

“He was going no matter what because I trust him,” Lund said. “This was redemption for him.”

“I saw the top of the net open and I wanted to roof one,” Azzariti said. “This is a great feeling. All my boys here and in the stands — it’s everything you want.”

The emotion-packed first period started fast. Anthony Cutalo opened the scoring just 1:21 into the game for the Friars.

From there, both teams traded heavy hits and goals.

Liam McNamara tied it at one with a breakaway finish at 5:44 of the first. Azzariti then scored on an odd-man rush to give St. Anthony’s a 2-1 lead after one.

Just 1:32 into the second period, Brendan Power ripped a shot top-shelf to tie the game at 2.

Cutalo danced past a defender and sniped a shot home, celebrating in front of a standing-room-only crowd to make it 3-2 with 11:42 left in the second.

“I was on a whole other planet, just dialed in,” Cutalo said. “I saw a corner and picked it. That’s the best feeling.”

McNamara answered with a deflection to tie the game at 3. Azzariti then scored again, and the Friars carried a 4-3 lead into the third.

The Bulls responded again. McNamara completed his hat trick by crashing the net, and his linemate Marcus D’Errico followed with a go-ahead goal with eight minutes left.

“Liam is bought in as a 200-foot player and played great,” Smithtown/Hauppauge coach Mark Dubeau said. “Offensively, we battled. Defensively, we made too many mistakes that led to their goals, and we need to clean that up in Game 2.”

With 2:27 remaining, Christian Buttacavoli fired a shot from the point that found the back of the net to tie the game. McNamara rang a shot off the pipe with under a minute left, sending the game to overtime.

Jacob Caradonna and Valcich each made difficult saves in overtime to force a shootout.

This time, Azzariti and Valcich came up clutch.