After falling to Massapequa last week in the team’s first loss of the season, the Bellmore-Merrick Bulldogs have gotten back on the winning track this week. The Bulldogs defeated the Bethpage Eagles on Sunday night before taking out the Levittown Falcons 7-2 on Monday night in front of a large crowd as a part of the Purple Heart Pups charity fundraiser event.

The fundraiser was sponsored in part by America’s Vet Dogs and the National Amputation Foundation. There were raffles – ranging from free yoga classes to Islanders tickets – sweatshirts for sale and a “chuck-a-puck” contest between the second and third periods in an effort to raise money for Purple Heart Pups.

“Purple Heart Pups is a project sponsored by the Merrick Lions Foundation to raise money to assist disabled veterans make a transition from injured soldier to productive citizen,” said Lisa Siano, founder of Purple Heart Pups. “We help them obtain service dogs. … The service dogs do a tremendous job helping them regain a position in society.”

More than 100 people were on hand to watch the victory, including Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg, D-Merrick.

“Together with the Merrick Lions, they’re really doing a good thing, not just for the Bellmore-Merrick community, but for the veterans and for the puppies,” Denenberg said of the Bulldogs. “... It’s a feel-good night because we’re watching our Bellmore-Merrick hockey team play and we’re raising money for two good causes, so you couldn’t have a better feeling than that.”

Honored at the game was Patrick J. Yngstrom, who is the Director of the Nassau County Veteran Service Agency. Yngstrom served as Sergeant with 502nd infantry/101st Airborne Division from 1970-71 in Vietnam.

“We’re here playing hockey because of them,” Bulldogs head coach Chris Patten said of the veterans and soldiers’ effort around the globe. “They’re fighting for our freedom, so the least we could is say thank you.”

The fans, veterans and pups on hand were not disappointed either, as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead on the strength of goals from Jake Barber, whose father Mitch was the fundraiser’s chairman, and Dan Hulse, who finished with a season-high four goals en route to the 7-2 win.

Dan Smith and Zachary Schneider each added two assists, while sophomore Matthew Waldman picked up the win in goal for the Bulldogs.

“I think we played well, especially after the loss to Massapequa,” Hulse said. “We regrouped well and we moved the puck well. We kept moving our feet and found the net.”

Score: Bellmore-Merrick 7, Levittown 2

Records: Bellmore-Merrick 16-1-0; Levittown 2-12-1

Hero: Hulse had his biggest game of the year for the Bulldogs by finding the back of the net four separate times. He scored two even-strength goals, one power-play goal and one shorthanded goal on the evening.

“He never stops moving his feet,” Patten said of Hulse’s play. “He’s such a strong skater – so good away from the puck, so good on the puck. He has great vision on the ice. Dan was definitely amazing tonight. He can do no wrong.”

“I just kept moving my feet and found myself in front of the net,” Hulse added. “I shot it and it went in.”

Turning Point: The Bulldogs set the tone early, but it was Hulse’s first goal of the game that gave his team firm control of the game.

On the play, Hulse managed to create a turnover while his team was down one man. Teammate Andrew Connell took the puck the length of the ice and dished it off in front of the Levittown net to Hulse, who made no mistake of putting his team up 2-0.

Quotable: “I think it adds a different flavor for the game, a different kind of excitement,” Patten said of the fundraiser. “We definitely wanted to do something for a veterans’ organization this year and the Purple Heart Pups just kind of seemed perfect. Giving service dogs to service men and women that served in Iraq or Afghanistan, what’s really better than that as a way to say ‘thank you’?”

Bottom Line: On a night when everyone came to have a good time and enjoy some hockey, the Bulldogs came through with a dominant display of offense and defense. The win was not only important for the morale of everyone there in the spirit of the fundraiser, but for the morale of the team.

 “It was huge because the team almost fell apart during the Massapequa game,” Hulse said. “We started yelling at each other and it’s nice to come back and feel like a team again.”

While the team is certainly headed in the right direction, Patten still believes his Bulldogs have to continue to improve if they want to take out Massapequa in the playoffs.

“I still think we need to get back on that level of competing against a Massapequa,” he said. “Those are the teams you want to play against. Those are the teams you really look forward to playing against. So I still think that we have a lot that we need to work on to hopefully be able to see those guys again in the playoffs.”

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