(1) #2 New Canaan 3 vs (9) #6 Glastonbury 1 at Northford Ice Pavilion
-This game was closer than the 3-1 final, with NC's third goal only coming on an empty-netter at the end but at the same time Glastonbury was never leading and only found the back of the net when they pulled their goalie and had an extra forward on the ice. Drew Mozzer scored for the Tomahawks with 35 seconds left on an assist by Sean Carfi and Sam Scannel. Mozzer had a few short hand opportunities and Glastonbury Forward Ethan Holdaway had at least two breakaway opportunities to score in the game but all they led to was spectacular saves for New Canaan goalie Tom Nowaki as he recorded 23 saves in the game. Chris Hemhauser made 23 saves as well but the two goals he let in were too much for his offense to match against a New Canaan defense that really stepped it up in this one. The Rams killed all five of Glastonbury's powerplay opportunities and capitalized on their own when they scored midway through the first period. Brian Tohir and David Crandall had goals for NC on assists by Tom Krieger, Dylan Hart and PT Prins and then Reed Harper had the empty net goal at the end. Read the game below to see who NC faces on Wednesday down at Yale...on way or the other its an all FCIAC semifinal now!
(4) #9 St. Joseph 3 vs (5) #6 Ridgefield 2 at Terry Connors Rink (Stamford)
-I apologizing for doubting that St. Joseph would not be making a trip to Yale this year when they have played two games there for each of the past two years (won DIII in 09 and lost DII to Amity in 10). Ridegefield's offense showed up in this one but, unfortunately for them, so did St. Joseph's goalie, Zach Carrano. Carrano made 33 saves on 35 shots and said after the game that the constant pressure, especially Ridgefield's 15 shots in the third period alone, really helped him focus and get in a zone. His first goal allowed since the first period against Conard, came when Matt Flanagan knocked in a rebound 1:43 into the second period. St. Joseph was already happily up on the Tigers having scored twice on their first three shots of the game, Connor Crouse 1:45 and Pat Corcoran 5:05 into the game. Ridgefield's goalie Nate Gliedman settled in after that finishing with 20 saves but Crouse scored on him again, unassisted this time, with 6:43 left in the third. Sean Wilkinson cut the lead to 3-2 with 3:39 left in the game on his own individual effort but the Cadets held on, even when the Tigers pulled their goalie at the end. Crouse, the offensive star of the game, had an assist on St. Joseph's second goal, finishing with three points while Ryan Parsons and Kevin Robitaille also recorded assists. Vinny Rella and Jack Christensen assisted Flanagan's goal for Ridgefield. St. Joseph moves on to face New Canaan in the semifinals at Yale on Wednesday and would love revenge for the 3 times they have lost to the Rams this season, most recently 3-4 in OT of the FCIAC Championship game. Fourth time is the charm?
(2) #1 Fairfield Prep 5 vs (7) #3 Hamden 2 at Bennett Rink (West Haven)
-Want impressive? How does four third period goals on the two-time defending champions to come from behind and win sound? That's exactly what Prep did, coming into the third period down 1-2. Granted the last two goals were empty net, to score on Hamden two minutes and thirty seconds into the third period then again just one minute and twenty-five seconds later is something that just proves Prep is the number one team in the state. What really killed Hamden in the game mentally, physically, and momentum-wise was penalties, mainly C.J. Carnigan who had three minor penalties, the third of which Prep scored the 2-2 tying goal on, and a five minute major/game disqualification for kicking with 7:31 left in the game. Hamden still had a 5-on-3 powerplay late in the game and a few other chances throughout the game but John Galiani's 24 saves, 12 in the third period, were just enough for the Jesuits. Prep had two goals from both Craig Puffer (1st and 3rd) and Bryan Puffer (2nd and 5th) while A.J. Unker also had one, the 4th (empty net). Don Carnicky, Sean Henry, Evvan Antisdale and Connor Henry all had assists. For Hamden, Jim Burt scored the first goal of the game on a pass from Pat Lynch and freshman defenseman Mike Lee gave the Green Dragons their 2-1 lead in the second period, on an assist from Nick Amarone. Fairfield Prep is now headed to the semifinals at Ingalls Rink on Wednesday!
(3) #8 South Windsor 1 vs (6) #4 Xavier 0 at Koppel Community Sports Center at Trinity College (Hartford)
-I'm not going to sit here and tell you that the officiating was even close good when players were getting tripped, hooked and boarded all over the place, not to mention on shot to the head that went completely uncalled; sometimes I wondered if the refs even had whistles. That being said, SW must have read my post because they scored the first, and only, goal and that was all they needed. Tyler Glassman had the goal with Nate Waldeisen picking up the assist although it really just looked like a bunch of scrum. Xavier's offense, well actually their entire team really, looked tired and slow the whole game, getting only 10 shots in the first two periods and only 24 the whole game. I give a lot of credit to SW's defense for playing solid the whole game and only letting Xavier getting decent shots, so as to never really test Marchi in goal. Xavier had their chances nonetheless, Trevor Buchas had a breakaway (got hooked), Dan Walsh had an open look on a power play and another shot that maybe could have got redirected too, and so. Charlie Dupont appeared to be injured and was skating through it but the offense could have used him and Kurt Johnson at 100% (THIS WAS THE FIRST AND ONLY GAME XAVIER DID NOT SCORE A GOAL IN and they played goalies 100x better than Marchi). Austin Essery was a wall in goal with 18 saves and the defense gave it their all in the third allowing only 2 shots that period but the offense just could not score. SW goalie Christian Marchi had 27 saves in the shutout and SW as a team just played a more physical game (sometimes way too physical, whether or not they got called for it) than X. X had a powerplay with 1:47 left and when they pulled their goalie it was 6-4 but, just like the entire game, they just couldn't get it done and SW came out on top. Although most people would agree that Xavier would kill South Windsor if the two played again, just like New Canaan's win over Hamden earlier this season, when you only get one shot you have to come ready play or else you're going home empty handed!
Talk about biased....South Windsor was the far superior team....Xavier was not at the same level....if South Windsor was not missing their entire 3rd line they would have put many more picks in the net...Xavier. ....and Ridgefield BTW...were way overrated in your poll....all I cansay is SW is one win away from the championship game....well deserving of their 3 seed...play the games....
ReplyDelete"play the game"?
ReplyDeleteand a team in not overrated if they lose in the playoffs to another top ten team, any team could have won any of the games so far in the playsoffs (expect prob Greenwich)
its not biased to assume a team who has scored in every game they played had a bad game when they only got 10 shots in the first two periods and didnt make the other goalie make a good save all game. You were at the game, you how slow the kids from X looked and you know that the team you saw was much worse than the one you were expecting so see, but like i said, at the end of the day the team that came ready to play and won fair and square is the one that deserves to move on and that was the South Windsor Bobcats on Saturday