I said it was a huge day and now that it is said and done, there is even bigger news. One team qualified for the post-season, there were some really big upsets, another team is no longer perfect, and some very close, controversial games at the top!
#4 Ridgefield 2 @ #2 Notre Dame-West Haven 1
-The first period in this one ended 0-0 but there were positives for both teams. Ridgefield was winning the physical battle and their superb defense was making up for their poor puck control. Notre Dame spent more time on offense but shots were probably about even as Ridgefield took more shots while on offense but were of less quality than the few ND managed to get off on Ridgefield's stifling defense.
The second period is when the West Haven very suspect officiating really started to show. Ridgefield was not doing good on offense and they made their job harder when #14 was picked up an interference at the 6:00 mark. Darren Capobianco got a solid shot on goal but the goalie made a pad save and ND only had one more good shot during that power play. #9 on Ridgefield had a quality opportunity right after that power play and then the action really started to pick up. Ridgefield had a good 2-on-2, ND 3-on-2 the other way then Ridgefield 3-on-1. Finally, with 3:15 remaining, Ridgefield #9 and #6 rushed the net and lit the lamp on a beautiful exchange, 9 to 6 then back to 9 to beat ND goalie Luc Amatruda. Unfortunately, #6 picked up a stupid penalty after the goal for cross-checking so ND started off their second power play of the game on the post-goal faceoff. The Green Knights had a spectacular chance when the puck popped out of a play at the net and was in front of the open side of the net with an ND player right there. However, Ridgefield's goalie, #30, along with his defense denied that goal by making hard for the ND skater to get his stick on the puck and then blocking off its path to the net. Shortly thereafter, Alex Esposito made a good play for ND in front of the net but his shot hit the left post about halfway up and did not go in. One of many blown or inconsistent calls in the game was highlighted by an ND player touching the puck on his way off the ice and ND not getting called for having too many men on the ice (they had six skaters on at that point).
In the third period, ND came out strong again and Colby Cretella had his shot at a goal, three time in fact, when he got the puck right in front of the goal and he tried the left (stick side for the goalie) but it was blocked back to him, through the five-hole but his stick was restricted by a defenseman and then around on the right (glove side) but was somehow denied once again; it was ten seconds that had everyone on the edge of their seats. Like so many other times in this game, the puck just wouldn't go in the net for the Green Knights and there seemed to be an obstacle other than the Ridgefield defensemen and goalie. Ridgefield responded at around the six-minute mark when #17 rushed the goal and slapped a shot by Amatruda from the left circle that did hit the inside of the right post but stayed in the net. From there, you could really see anger, hunger and intensity in the ND players. There was another scrum in front of the Ridgefield net but no goal for ND yet again. #16 for the Tigers got called for a cross-check (more like a bump in front of the net that was not called a penalty at any other point in the game) and ND got their third power play of the game with 4:41 remaining in the third period. The Green Knights had some good opportunities like hitting the left side of the right post but the puck ricocheted out. However, ND-WH finally scored at the 12:04 mark, a power play goal for Greg Zullo on a rebound from a shot that went across the net and the goalie and defense couldn't get there this time, as they had many other times in the game. As they did in their game against Prep, ND applied a lot of 6-on-5 pressure and got many shots on goal, coming very close to scoring but in the end Ridgefield almost scored an open net goal when they cleared the puck and time expired on ND's comeback with the score remaining 2-1 in favor of the Tigers.
Big win here for Ridgefield that can be credited almost entirely to their defense shutting down ND's offense. It took some home referees to manufacture an ND goal (as is often the case in West Haven) and Ridgefield got very lucky on their "snipe" goal that beat Amatruda, a goal I was surprised to see get by him. The score should have been 1-0 but still a clear win for the Tigers that proves they are better than the Green Knights right now but anything can happen going forward.
Conard 3 @ Fermi/Enfield 2
-Another revenge win for Conard as Fermi/Enfield had beat them 6-3 earlier in the season, on 12/20.
East Catholic 0 @ South Windsor 7
-At 8-2 overall, South Windsor was the first team in any division to qualify for the postseason this year. Once you see all the other results from tonight, look for the Bobcats to possibly rise back into the top ten rankings next week.
#7 North Haven 8 @ Daniel Hand 1
-This is a good win for two reasons now. Besides proving they are much better than a DII team, even a good one, as any top ten DI team should, this also distances North Haven from a team like West Haven that only beat Hand 5-4 and had a very disappointed result tonight that is later in this post.
Amity 1 @ #1 Fairfield Prep 3
-Although how close this game could be something to note, the bigger story here is Fairfield Prep coach Matt Sather (class of 1993) picking up his 200th in his coaching career; congratulations!
#5 Xavier 2 @ #3 Hamden 3
-I arrived near the end of the first period of this one and received a breakdown of why Hamden was up 1-0. About midway through the first period, Nick Turner on Xavier was called for a penalty and Hamden capitalized on this power play, but it wasn't hard. A Green Dragon defense took the puck to the middle of the ice and shot a laser by Xavier goalie Shane Baldwin uncontested from between the circles. Hamden seemed to have a handle on the rest of the period with Xavier showing some promising moments but the score was 1-0 going into the first intermission. Connor Walsh also picked up a stupid interference penalty for a late hit after the horn sounded so that gave Xavier a power play to start the second period.
Xavier got nothing on their power play but they had some good opportunities early in the period, most of which involved scrum in front of the net. This was a result of a slap shot or centering pass that Xavier kept trying to put home because Hamden could not quickly or easily cover up or clear the puck. I don't exactly know how to describe this situation and I wish there was a replay of this shot, as there is of a shot in the Cheshire and Guilford 2011 DII Championship game, but Hamden saucered a nice shot just out of reach of Baldwin but it ricocheted off the cross bar and bounced out to the almost the blue line in a matter of two or three seconds. After some gasps and shouts from the crowd, a Hamden referee decided to call a goal for Hamden and then talked over the call with the other official and both quickly decided to proceed with that decision. I don't know how any explanation could have satisfied Xavier's coach Scott Gainey since the only explanation (after discussing it with hockey players that have played at this rink) of how that shot was a goal was that it hit off the middle post, inside the net. However, that post is in the middle of the net and the shot was to the upper right corner of the net so that could not be possible. Nonetheless, as fans have seen in West Hartford, the officials literally gave the home team a goal in this one and that's just the way it is at the end of the day. After that and before the second period ended, Xavier had two power plays as a result of Tyler Carangelo's cross-check at about 9:02 and Mike Regan's trip at 13:50. Xavier didn't score on either, including the time in the third period, but Bryan Stanton stood out as working particularly hard for his team. That is one thing that can be said about this game, both teams worked hard and played with intensity, which is what made this game so close and so good!
Only one hundred and twenty-two seconds into the third period, a penalty on Eric Sullivan put Xavier on the power play yet again and the Falcons had 3-on-5 for twenty-one seconds when Tyler Carangelo committed a tripping penalty. However, yet again, Xavier came up empty handed and this time Hamden controlled the puck a lot over that span of about four minutes, even getting some good shots on goal despite being down 4-on-5 (3-on-4 in the offensive zone). All the effort was not in vain though when Bryan Stanton scored on a nice centering pass from Jack Gethings to make the scoreboard score 2-1, time of the goal: 7:26. Only a short while after that, at around 7:45, Dan Dupont was sent to the sin bin for tripping and Hamden went on the always deadly power play. Forty-five seconds into the power play, Tim Lee got two minutes in the penalty box for goal tender interference that allowed Hamden to put the puck in the net but the referee correctly said that there was no goal due to the goaltender interference and 4-on-4 hockey ensued. Both teams played well as the action shifted back and forth but neither could manage a goal with Xavier getting better opportunities to score but not being able to finish. Hamden came through with their second goal in the net, third on the scoreboard, when Tim Lee fed Sean Casbarro at the 12:54 mark. However, Xavier answered on a snipe by John Burkinshaw from the blue line with Ryan McClellan and Bryan Stanton picking up assists. There were only twenty-nine seconds left but Xavier earned a second legitimate goal and tried for a third but came up short.
Hamden played better in this game and got the win thanks to the officials but Xavier certainly proved they are capable of beating Hamden even if both teams play at their best, which Xavier certainly did not do in this game. Varga played well in net for the Green Dragons but didn't get tested in the same way he did against Fairfield Prep and Xavier's defense and goalie played well for most of the game but some lapses and mistakes gave Hamden just enough to score twice. Xavier's offense failed to finish plays again and again but it is promising that even on an off day they got good opportunities on a Hamden defense that I would say played to 80 or 90% of their potential. It is a shame these two teams do not meet again this season unless they find each other in the CIAC DI tournament that I'm sure both will qualify for and do well in this year.
Simsbury 3 @ #8 West Haven 1
-This proves that Simsbury is really heating up in a major way after a rough start 0-5 by winning their third straight. For West Haven, this is not what they want if they want to make a case for being a top ten team in the state. I was not at this game so I cannot speak to what exactly was the reason why the Blue Devils went down in this one at home but the result is what it is and it is not a good one for W Haven.
Joel Barlow 1 @ Newtown 8
-The Falcons went down and in a major way. This looks very good for Newtown though as they build their resume to be the top ten team in DII this year whereas Joel Barlow still looks good in DIII.
Cheshire 4 @ Watertown/Pomperaug 2
-This game was streamed on sportingnewsct.com and it looks like it was a good one but the Rams came out on top and move above .500 on the season with their 5th win. They now have ten days to prepare for their next game, a trip to #1 Fairfield Prep on next Saturday 1/21. W-P is 3-7 but has time to turn things around as they progress into a much easier Southwest Conference schedule of mostly DII and DIII teams (7 games worth), except for Newington-Berlin (DIII, not SWC though), Amity (DI, SCC) and #7 North Haven (DI, SCC).
#6 Glastonbury 6 @ Wethersfield 3
-I did not end up making it to this game so I don't if it was closer than the score indicated but I can tell you that three goals against Glastonbury is an encouraging sign for the Eagles and shows the Thomahawks that they really need to work on defense if they except to beat some of the top teams like ND-WH next Monday 1/16 or even South Windsor next Saturday 1/21 and red hot Simsbury this Saturday. Wethersfield plays DIII Hall/Southington on Saturday in the second game of their current four game homestand.
Stamford 4 @ Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe 5
-The benchmarks proved true as FWL edged Stamford out in this one by a narrow score of five to four. The victors host a very tough #8 East Haven on Saturday, that Stamford tied 5-5 in the first game of the season, where as the Black Knights take on a DI team as well in another FCIAC match-up like this game was, at the now 4-3 New Canaan Rams on Saturday.
Greenwich 5 @ St. Joseph 6
-About what you'd expect from these two teams right now: a close game in which both teams score a lot and I think the Cadets won because they a little more confidence, improving to 6-3, while Greenwich has lost to some really good teams and falls to 1-7.
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