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It was standing room only in the rink, with those in attendance unaware of the surprise that was to be announced in a few moments. Derek Zacchino was lined up on the blue line in full uniform next to his Bethpage High School teammates prepared to take part in the ceremonial puck drop for a benefit game in his honor.

It had been a trying three months for the junior defenseman and his family. A surprise diagnosis after the first practice of the year changed the entire season. Now here he was inside the Town of Oyster Bay Ice Skating Center holding a secret that only few people there knew.

Hours before the benefit game Derek learned that partaking in the pre-game puck drop wouldn’t be his only on-ice duties that evening.  

Pease read the rest of the article here... https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2019/02/16/high-school-hockey-player-sticks-it-to-cancer-with-surprise-comeback

With an estimated crowd of 500, at the Practice Home of the New York Islanders, Northwell Health Ice Center, the Cold Spring Harbor Seahawks completed their fairytale run with a powerful ending defeating defending Champs, the Long Beach Marines in a deciding Game 3 with an Overtime goal by Owen Kaplan at 3:00 of OT. 

The win caps the best of three series in favor the Seahawks and keeps a team strong in 11th-grade talent, a major player on the Varsity stage for next season as well. 

For Long Beach, the defeat ends their undefeated regular season, but they too have a team strong in 11th-grade talent and figure to remain a contender next season as well. 

The hard-fought game was described as a "Game For the Ages" in a series that has been tabbed the "Best in a Generation". The see-saw affair contained a hat trick by Marines Declan Conway and saw 5 leads changes. Both teams came out physical and proved to each other that they were there to play. 

The Seahawks were led by 2 goals by Richie Straino and a total of 9 Seahawks reaching the scoresheet in points. 

Griffin Igleasis gets the win for the Seahawks and remained strong throughout the affair and even had a little post help early in the OT period when Long Beach nearly ended it. 

The Long Beach Marines used 1st Period goals Declan Conway, Shane Murphy and Jack Gannon to rally into a lead they would never relent. 

The Seahawks came back in the second with a Colin McHale goal at 12:15 late in the period and added a Max Von Son tally early in the third, but it wasn't enough as the Marines thwarted the Seahawks at every attempt to force a deciding game. 

The Championship series concludes on Friday, February 15th at Northwell Health Ice Arena at 9pm.