Upsets, overtime, MA teams, what an exciting Wednesday!!!!!
Catholic Memorial (MA) 1 @ #1 Fairfield Prep 2
-The best team in the state beats yet another quality out of state opponent...Catholic Memorial is ranked #6 in Massachusetts!
#8 West Haven 3 @ Tri-Town 2 OT
-Mike Hanna and Justin Locke scored for Tri-Town but it wasn't enough as WH, in their third OT game of the season, pulled out the W with 1:50 left in overtime. Kyle Leyerzapf scored once and Mike Troiano scored twice, including in overtime, to give #8 WH the big win. The Blue Devils get #5 Xavier next, at home on Saturday; Tri-Town will be at #7 South Windsor.
Winshester (MA) 5 @ #3 Hamden 3
-Hamden didn't get the 9 points I'm sure they wanted but they got some really good experience against a team much better than most CT teams...experience that may prove invaluable in the tournament!
#5 Xavier 2 @ Conard 4
-It is a sad day in hockey when a team can score a goal without putting the puck in the net, the very definition of a goal. I am, of course, referring to Conard's first "goal" of this game: a shot that hit off the top of the top bar and deflected off it, into the boards and was still going to be played by both teams until the referee decided to blow his whistle and literally hand the Cheiftans a goal. Xavier played relatively well in this one, had plenty of chances to score more than just two, but struggled a little bit with finishing; an obstacle only made worse by the numerous interfernece penalties on Conard that the refs decided to swallow their whistles on...things were getting out of control and the zebras were making a mockery of the profession. Conard used their size advantage to, for the most part, control the neutral zone and give themselves opportunities to score. Xavier's mere two goals came on nice stick work in front of the net by Charlie Dupont off a pass from Dan Walsh and then later a strike by Trevor Buchas made things 2-1. Two nice goals on Austin Essery allowed Coanrd to be up 3-2 in the third and then they grabbed an empty netter for the 4-2 final in a game that should have been 2-2 in the 3rd. It would have been nice for Conard to get a clean win but 9 points is nine points and they can make a serious jump in the seeding with a win over Hall-Southington Saturday and then Tri-Town next Tuesday. Now, Xavier really needs to make a statement at #8 West Haven on Saturday and then next Wednesday at Notre Dame-Fairfield.
Interesting games:
Trumbull 4 @ Staples-Weston-Shelton 6
-Yeah I'll stick with S-W-S as my pick to win DIII and Trumbull will still make it far in DII but I wouldn't take them to win it all.
Westhill 2 @ Wilton 4
-Is Wilton my pick to win DII? Just maybe after this win over another good DII playoff team, Westhill. Guilford should do alright in the tournament and you can't sleep on Cheshire but outside these four (fourth is Trumbull not Westhill) there shouldn't be many surprises (but you do never know).
#6 Ridgefield 4 @ #9 St. Joseph 1
-What a sweet victory for the Ridgefield Tigers in their last game of the season after tying #10 Glastonbury 3-3 on Monday. St. Joseph may have lost their final game but look for them to rebound well in their first round game of states. If Ridgefield lost, how high would South Windsor have raised in the rankings? I probably would have moved them above Ridgefield simply because SW would have been playing a little better right now and then would SW have jumped X as the New Haven Register seems to think should be the case? I say no, even after Xavier's putrid loss to Conard tonight, because, aside from the fact that Conard's referees beat Xavier more than the hockey team did, Conard beat Glastonbury, just like SW did, and SW only beat Conard 1-0 the last time they played in 3-4 in OT the time before. Xavier would still light the lamp all over SW's goalie, while Austin Essery and the defense could hold the offense way done if SW's 12 shots against North Haven is any indication. Just fun to play/discuss possible situations. Another funny thing, Xavier may end up playing Conard again in the first round, a game I'm sure the Falcons would love to get! Oh, and on a final note, Ridgefield against South Windsor would be a GREAT game that I look forward to seeing circa the quarterfinals!
Othe notes on the night:
Hall-Southington beat Northwest Catholic 3-2 (another upset for a West Hardford team)
Cheshire beat East Catholic 4-3 in OT
New Canaan officially finished 20-0 with a 8-0 win over Stamford...Conrats!
Amity beat Hand 4-1
Trnity Catholic, the only DI team that cannot mathematically make the playoffs at this point (and hasn't been able to for a little while) beat Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe, a team that has made the DII tournament and will probably grab a seed around the middle of the pack, 5-4
On a final personal note, I cannot thank you the readers enough for your continued support as I have reached over 3,000 hits in the short month since I launched this blog (I have been following HS sports for much longer). A special thanks to my "loyal readers"...they know who they are.
Having a second look at St. Joe's schedule 7 D2, 2 D3,
ReplyDeleteThis should have been an easy call for Ridgefield...my bad...
I still don't agree with Ridgefield over SW....and the 12 shots
On NH...one of the worst games played by SW this seasonbut good
Teams find a way to win on bad nights...Conard's Refs are a
Joke ...Sw got a similar treatment...thus the 1-0 win....
Conard is better than people give them credit ....they are
Big and physical...not much offensive talent...but they are
A dangerous team...for the playoffs....SW will make some
Noise in states if they take care of business in the first round
...pretty sure the Ridgefield win guarantees them 3 seed...in states
..best seed they've had in 3 years...but they have a history of early
Outs....so we'll see....this years team is different...less stars...more
good players....that play hard...oh and the goalies...either one wouldcompete for starter on any of the top 10 teams....too bad they are both juniors.....we'll see how states go this year...I think there is a good chance for teams other than Prep and Hamden to make it tothe finals this year......more parity....
I agree with you on the Conard analysis but I have been giving them credit since the beginning of the year (look how many of their games I featured)!
ReplyDeleteAlso, what goalies are you talking abut? You lost me there in the middle
I think SW would actually do best with getting a Conard or a good opponent first round so they're ready for their second round game
Ridgefield won't be an easy out this year at all, even teams that beat them handily before, i.e. Xavier, would have a tough time with them again
and yeah Prep, NC, Hamden, ND-WH, Xavier, Ridgefield, SW...they are deffinetly contenders and while I am shying away from the parity arguement (although it holds true for the most aprt) the reason that any of these 7 teams can win, even tho Hamden and Prep are clearly more talented and would win if the playoffs were 5 game series (I'd say NC too but they play a shit schedule), is that they all bring a different style of play to the table. This is most evident in the fact that ND-WH beat Prep the other day and is, if you stop and think about it and how all the games between these teams went, the reason that some beat some but not others and is a better way of explaining the situation than parity because they're not equal/the same...they're all different but good and it allows the unique results we've had this year.
-Always love talking hockey with you