Great matchups led to great results and games that I am sure were a treat for the fans even if your team won or lost. Man I wish I could have been in at least seven different places today! I did, however, get to enjoy a gem of a game (to my surprise) in the 4-3 overtime thriller of Xavier over North Haven. North Haven deffinetly proved they have a skilled team that is a victim of a stacked schedule and a sub-par goalie. Xavier, on the other hand, played a sloppy game and needed a third period comeback led by Trevor Buchas and Captain Kurt Johnson to get from down 1-2 to up 3-2. North Haven had a sick slap shot from just inside the blue line to send it to OT and Buchas only scored for Xavier in the last three minutes of overtime. I am now confident that North Haven can beat any CCC team or even a team in the SCC like Xavier or Hamden.
Another thing I saw tonight, mainly from Xavier not N Haven, that I think explains some of the other scores from Saturday night, was some rusty play. I think this comes from snow cancellations for some teams or just a slow down in the schedule for others. Most of the teams playing tonight, including Xavier, Hamden, ND-WH, West Haven, and North Haven had not played since last Saturday. Amity hadn't played since their 1-2 OT loss to Xavier last Thursday. Scrimigages in practice are nice but everyone knows they don't even compare to real games. Now although this situation affects both teams in these games, it helps the underdog becuase it brings the "better" team down to their level more and throws off any rhythm, flow, or momentum these teams had built up and that the teams certainly rely on to win big games. That being said, I do not want to take away anything from the teams that won big tonight (Amity, Hamden, almost North Haven) because they still had to go out and execute, plus the two wins were by considerable margins (6-2 and 4-1 respectively). Look for a shake up in the polls and a great second half of the season.
Games I Had My Eye On:
Amity 4 @ #6 West Haven 1
-Huge win for Amity just when everyone was questioning their move up to DI this year and a great way to follow up a 1-2 OT loss to Xavier. For West Haven, they continue to slip up but also have quality games remaining to redeem themselves.
Conard 4 @ Fermi 1
-Conard grabs another CCC win to remain in the top 3 of the conference.
#5 Hamden 4 @ #3 ND-WH 1
-Hamden shows why they are the defending champs and should be in the discussion to win it all again this year (which would actually be their 3rd straight) while ND-WH now sinks to about the same level as Hamden (and Xavier): one of the best teams in the state but not THE best. Next weeks games may help separate the three (Hamden @ Prep Wednesday then X @ Prep and ND-WH vs WH Saturday).
Simsbury 0 @ #7 South Windsor 3
-This win makes S Windsor the undisputed best team in the CCC...for the time being.
ND-Fairfield 0 @ #9 Ridgefield 5
-Impressive win for Ridgefield, showing that the FCIAC can beat a mid-level SCC team. Now I know ND-Fairfield is actually part of the SWC but since they are DI and no other SWC teams are DI they don't have any mandatory conference games. Therefore, they go out and play a schedule similar to North Haven: the top SCC team and ND even plays top CCC teams so this win can get even better for Ridgefield. The win also may give Ridgefield some momentum moving forward, unless snow messes up next week (see story above).
North Haven 4 @ #4 Xavier 5 OT
-see above
The Rest:
Newington-Berlin 4 @ Sheehan 1
Hand 3 @ East Haven 5
St. Augustine Prep (NJ) 0 @ Fairfield Prep 3
-Big win for Prep because, I was not at the game so I'm not 100% sure but according St. Augustine Prep's schedule they are doing very well this year, and against top teams in NJ, so for Prep to win, and for the score to be 3-0, is a good sign for the Jesuits.
Wilton 1 @ St. Joseph 7
Brookfield-Bethel-Danbury 3 @ Newton 2 OT
Glastonbury 5 @ Enfield 0
Cheshire 4 @ Branford 0
Northwest Catholic 2 @ Wethersfield 5
Westhill 2 @ Norwalk-McMahon 0
Staples-Weston-Shelton 3 @ Trinity Catholic 0
E. O. Smith-Tolland-Windham 1 @ Rockville-Manchester-Stafford 3
Shepaug-Litchfield-Wamogo 1 @ Watertown-Pomperaug 10
Trumbull 2 @ Greenwich 2 OT
Windsor-East Gransby-Avon 4 @ Milford Co-op 5 OT
Farmington 2 @ East Catholic 4
Guilford 8 @ Lyman Hall 2
-Guilford improves to 8-0-1.
Fitch-East Lyme-Ledyard 2 @ Rocky Hill-RHAM 5
Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe 2 @ New Canaan 5
-New Canaan improves to 11-0.
Darien 4 @ Stamford 1
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