(1) Guilford 1 vs (2) Cheshire 3
-As the saying goes, the post is a goalie's best friend! If the goals were a couple inches wider Guilford probably would have won this game 5/7-2 but 18 saves by Tyler Carbone, 1 by Tom Dupont and four to six "saves" by the posts lead Cheshire to their second DII Championship in the past year. I'll mention right here that since Cheshire only has seniors leaving this team next year, and when you look at the hockey program the Rams have created, there is a lot of talk in the CIAC about moving them up to DI next year, whether they want to or not (which is a good thing). On to the game:
Guilford started off the game better and Cheshire looked a little, almost sloppy. It was a very physical game from the get-go but Guilford managed to get off a lot of shots with Tony Raccuia almost scoring at around the eleven minute mark but Carbone made a good save. As you would expect though, the Indians scored first, with forty-three seconds left in the first period. Stephen Petrick scored a powerplay goal on an assist from Ryan Moore and Guilford had all the momentum after one in front of the huge crowd at Ingalls on Friday night. Shots were 9-5 in favor of Guilford.
Cheshire freshman Tyler Violano was in the sin bin during Guilford's goal and he made up for it big time netting the equalizing goal, 3:58 into the second period. John Cunningham had the shot that Violano redirected past Guilford goalie Luc Amatruda (16 saves). Guilford responded very well hitting the post on back-to-back shots but then Cheshire's Ryan Powers started getting the Rams back on the offensive. After a long- and hard-fought period, Cheshire took the lead with only four seconds left. Matt Muzyka scored on wrist-shot from a Will Devine pass; Owen Powers also assisted on the goal. At the end of the period, Guilford was still outshooting Cheshire 15-13 though.
Now when I look at my game notes for the third period, all I see is chances for Guilford and one season-saving championship-winning (or heartbreaking depending on how you look at it) play by Cheshire's Tommy Dupont. For the first three to four minutes of the period the puck was in Cheshire's zone practically the entire time. Jake Lane had a chance in front of the net: Carbone was down and the puck was but there was a lot of scrum and Lane just couldn't get his stick to the puck. Later, Drake hit the post right after a faceoff. Then came the play of the tournament, heck of the YEAR, when Carbone was down, outside of the crease and a Guilford player had the loose puck in front of the net. Dupont was standing next to the net and when he saw the situation he drove across the net and deflected the Guilford player's shot off his body. The place went CRAZY; one side in the good way and one side in the bad way! Dupon picked a penalty for rushing at 6:11 in the 3rd but Guilford couldn't get past Carbone to tie it up at 2. Guilford' penalty at 9:51 for too many men on the ice didn't come back to haunt them either. Finally, in the offensive onslaught that is the ending of most close games, Guilford's closest thing to a goal was Jack Fitzgerald hitting the post, yet again, with about one minute left. Violano added an open netter with seventeen seconds left but Guilford still outshot Cheshire in the game 20-18. Both teams acted with class after the game and congratulations to the Cheshire Rams!
On paper, you'd think Guilford won this game, but all that matters is what's on the scoreboard...
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