As the start of the varsity high school hockey season, the outlook seemed uncertain for a team cobbled together from the Wheatley School and Jericho High School players, but that was then.
Now the undefeated East Williston-Jericho team is heading to the state championships on March 1 with an 18-0 record.
“I didn’t think we’d be the top team when I first saw us play,” said high-scoring forward Matthew Bernot, a senior at The Wheatley School. “Obviously it turned out to be a good team. We bonded from the start. We just blew a lot of the team out of the water.”
Those teams included Bellmore-Merrick, which East Willston-Jericho recently shut out 5-0 in the single-elimination semifinal playoff round.
East Williston goaltender Graham Turk, also a senior at Wheatley, played big in the best-of-three championship series in the team’s Michelino Division, with a goals-against average of .66 as East Williston-Jericho swept Massapequa by score of 4-1 and 6-1 in the clincher.
But Turk is well aware that the season isn’t over yet for he and his teammates as they contend for a state title.
“We’re definitely confident in how we’re doing. But there’s not telling how good those teams are,” said Turk. “We had a great run so far, so we’ll see how it goes.”
After losing 10 starters from last year’s squad, coach Jon Turk knew his team faced a major transition in merging with Jericho and moving into the large-school division.
“I think the main difference is that where we had a more balanced team in the past, we really had a significant influx of talented individual players,” Turk said. “That took a really good team and make it great.”
East Williston needed defensemen and found them in Jericho’s Andrew and Adam Fox, who combined with Turk’s son, Graham, to thwart opposing offenses.
Jericho forward Anthony Modica formed a strong tandem with Bernot to give the team its scoring punch. Bernot and Turk also provided leadership as co-captains.
“Those five really powered us to the type of season we had,” coach Turk said.
The season’s turning point came early, according to goalie Turk and goal-scorer Bernot, when the team was down 4-2 to a strong Bellmore-Merrick teach on its home ice. East Williston came back with three goals in the five minutes of the third period to win the game 5-4.
“The fact that we came together to win that one game was a big turning point in the season,” Graham Turk said.
A late-season victory over a strong Long Beach squad also gave his team confidence, Turk said. The team’s potent scoring has kept pressure off its defense and its goalie throughout the season.
“They’ve made it really easy for me,” Turk said. “We have had such scoring power, there’s never been pressure on me to make saves to win.”
Bernot said going into the state tournament undefeated for the season, he knows opposing teams will be gunning for the East Williston-Jericho team. But he thinks he and his teammates are ready.
“I think we have a good chance at winning it all. The competition from these teams in Bufflalo are tougher. But I think we can skate with them,” Bernot said.
The team’s goalie knows there’s still room for the squad to improve, and he’s hoping he can rise to the challenge.
“I’m not at a point where I feel like I’m satisfied yet. I’m just hoping I can improve through the state tournament,” Turk said.
In the state tourney in Jamestown, teams must take two of three games in an initial round to advance to a final round of single elimination semifinals to reach the final match for the state title in their division.
The East Williston-Jericho coach doesn’t know which teams his squad will face, just that they will be tough. But he feels his players are up to the challenge.
“You never know, but I like our chances going in,” Turk said.
