Pancreatic cancer is possibly the most lethal of all kinds of the dreaded disease. The five-year relative survival rate in the U.S. is a mere 12 percent according to some statistics, and it has claimed too many lives — including that of Michael Manna, a renowned figure in the Island hockey community who succumbed to the illness.

His memory has been kept alive by the St. Peter’s and St. Joseph by-the-Sea varsity teams, who took to the ice on Monday night, Jan. 8 for the fourth annual Michael Manna Memorial Game, fittingly contested at the S.I. Skating Pavilion in Charleston — a place where Manna served as the rink’s first general manager.

But there have been success stories, too, including Ralph Postiglione. Monday’s guest of honor, the father of Eagles assistant coaches Vinny and Brian Postiglione, is a pancreatic cancer survivor. So, too, is St. Peter’s head coach Ed Blackburn.

Blackburn developed the illness after his time at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001 when he worked for the NYPD’s organized crime investigative division. “I was there when Building 7 came down,” recalled Blackburn, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in March of 2019.

Fortunately for the St. Peter’s mentor, Dr. Despina Siolas came into his life. Working out of NYU Langone Hospital, Dr. Siolas tried an experimental treatment on Blackburn after the cancer had spread to the coach’s liver.

“We used a combination of immuno therapy and targeted therapy,” said Dr. Siolas, who attended the game in her own Eagles jersey. “We mixed the two together after it was approved by Ed’s insurance.”

“She saved my life,” said Blackburn of Dr. Siolas, who left NYU Langone to start her own lab that’s focused on curing gastrointestinal cancers at Weill Cornell Medical Center. “I’m still in remission; I receive treatments every six weeks.”

Proceeds from Monday’s event, which included countless raffles, went toward the Siolas Laboratory.

“It’s great for Sea to be associated with such a great cause. Eddie’s a friend, so it’s nice to participate in something near and dear to his heart,” said Vikings head coach Greg Perlman, who watched his squad score five unanswered goals to post a 7-2 CHSAA A victory, upping their division record to an impressive 7-1-1.

Leading the way for Sea was D.J. Oricchio, who tallied five times while adding two assists. For the sophomore, the game had extra special meaning.

“I lost my grandfather (Joseph Tedesco) to pancreatic cancer in 2021. My grandmother is still having a tough time coping,” said Oricchio, whose performance now gives him 34 points in just nine contests.

After opening the scoring with 3:06 left in the first period, Oricchio made it 2-0 less than four minutes into the second on a mini breakaway that culminated with a beautiful deke of SP netminder Christian Smith.

The Eagles (3-5-1) deadlocked matters later in the period on goals from Giancarlo Sears and Nick Mangano before Oricchio reclaimed the Sea lead for good, tallying off a scramble in front with 1:10 remaining in the second.

“He’s a tremendous player, extremely fast,” said Blackburn of Oricchio, who plays his travel hockey for the Woodbridge Wolfpack. “He’s great on his edges, he really went through us. Tonight, [Sea] wanted it more than we did.”

The rivals had played to a 3-3 tie earlier in the season, but the Vikings left no doubt in the third, putting it away with four goals — one each from Donovan Mosby and Vin Lorenzo and two more from Oricchio.

“In that first meeting, we got a sense of their style of play,” said Perlman of the Eagles. “We did a good job of adapting. We had a game plan, and we executed. As for D.J., it’s not just tonight; he’s been doing this for two seasons. Every time he plays, he gets better. He’s a special talent.”

“We wanted to close it out. We executed our forechecks and got pucks deep,” said Oricchio. “The difference between last year and this season is the talent of the kids. We’ve improved drastically.”