Big games mean big news so here we go:
South Windsor 2 @ Fairfield Prep 6
-A tale of three quarters in Bridgeport ended with some encouragement and disappointment for both teams. South Windsor didn't exactly come ready to play in the first two periods, only managing to score twice in the third period. However, they only lost by four this time to Prep in the regular, unlike 0-7 last year, which they improved to only lose 1-4 to Prep in the DI semifinals. Prep scored one minute and forty-four seconds into the game when Sean Henry scored off a pass from Patrick Henry. The next two goals were David White feeding Matt Brophy and then Brophy feeding White with 45.3 seconds left in the first period. The Jesuits got right back to work in the second with Brophy and Henry feeding teammate Tim Edmonds five minutes and nineteen seconds into the period. Next, AJ Unker got in on the action, assisting Tom Worsfold's goal and Brophy scored his second goal of the game with 56 seconds left in the second, with Worsfold and Nick Bargiello assisting him. Prep played a poor third period, giving many scoring chances to the Bobcats, but they only managed to convert on two. Mike Piccini scored a Joe Bonazelli pass 2:34 in and Dorian LaBox helped Dave Ouellette cut the deficit to 4 at the 8:41 remaining mark but SW couldn't manage to score any power play goals or get many more quality shots after that. Riley Wikman finished with 20 saves for Prep while Chris Marchi had 21 saves and Ryan Serksnas added 8 for SW. The Bobcats have almost a week off to get ready for the new co-op, Fermi/Enfiled coming to South Windsor next Friday. Prep doesn't play again 'till Thursday at Notre Dame-Fairfield.
Darien 5 @ West Haven 6 OT
-The other big game of the night went down at Bennett Rink in West Haven on Saturday. I'm going to start at the very beginning and give the game to you in chronological order. The Blue Wave were the first ones to score, when Brendan Hathaway put in the rebound of a shot by Mike Casey and then a minute later Jack Knowlton made it 2-0 by putting a great move on a West Haven defensemen behind the net before beating the goalie with a backhand into the upper left corner. Twenty-four seconds into the second period, Darien scored one again when Nick Bruno picked up a loose puck and put it in the back of the net, George Gregory was credited with an assist. West Haven finally scored three minutes later on a power-play goal by Adam Mink courtesy of a nice two-way pass play involving Mike Troiano and Josh Robinchaud. However, only 69 seconds later, Jack Knowlton, assisted by Hank Glick, scored his second goal of the game and put his team up 4-1 in the second period. Again, the tides turned quickly as Mink and set up Troiano with a perfect pass up the ice (Austin Hansen also received an assist) and then just over a minute later Jim Morrissey beat Darien's goalie unassisted. However, Darien regained the momentum before going into the locker room when Knowlton returned the favor and assisted Gregory at about the 10:30 mark. It has always been said that the great players emerge when it matters most and the third period was all about Mike Troiano. About halfway through the period, shortly after West Haven failed to score even with a 5-on-3, he literally took over as he possessed a loose puck, used three different moves to beat Darien's defense and then score. one minute and twenty-three seconds later, Blue Devil defenseman Kyle Leyerzapf fed Troiano on the break and then Mike beat Darien's goalie with the backhand. Regulation ended in a tie and the stalemate continued in OT until Austin Hansen drew a hooking penalty on Gregory. On the power-play, Robinchaud and Hansen set up a slap shot by Leyerzapf that completed the comeback with 2:52 left to spare. Darien's Max Rothston played well and finished with 24 saves but Justin Shepherd in goal for the Wesites deserves a lot of credit as he held the Blue Wave scoreless in the third period and denied a number of quality shots by Darien's top forwards in OT to give his team a shot. He finished with 24 saves as well with the shots being 30-29 in favor of the home team.
East Haven 4 @ Cheshire 2
-The Yellow Jackets weren't about to fall to 0-1-1. 4-2 at Cheshire is a good win and puts them right back up there as another team no one can overlook on their schedule. Cheshire, on the other hand, now sits as a team between Conard and East Haven, not a bad place to be for your first year in DI. That is not to say that they will stay at that level the whole season but when since they didn't get the job done at home against East Haven they are just inviting the doubt. It could only have been just one bad game, like how the Stamford may have been just one bad game for the Easties, but the same thing applies for both teams: you can't have a bad game in DI. This year, more than any other in my opinion, is so competitive day in and day out across the division. Last year, I talked about parity amongst the top of the division but this year there is a good competitive balance and each game is important for each team. More so than last year, there are no givens, especially this early in the season, and that means a lot of exciting hockey is ahead.
St. Joseph 5 @ Guilford 2
-Speaking of which, I thought this game would be simple math that Guilford won last year and lost less talent than St. Joseph did so they should win this game. Well, I was wrong and would just refer you to the underlined text above this game.
North Haven 4 @ Simsbury 1
-North Haven improves to 1-1 while Simsbury falls to 0-2. North Haven will host a DIII team next Friday and should improve to 2-1 while things just get harder for Simsbury as they host the other Notre Dame, this one from West Haven, on Wednesday.
Glastonbury 2 @ Ridgefield 5
-Wow, Ridgefield is very good this year coming away with the three goal win at the Winter Garden Ice Arena. For a game with an 8:50pm start time, I always wonder how much of a factor that is. For example, if this game was played at 1pm would it have been any closer since it would have been more central in the players' day. One has to remember that these kids are still high school-ers, in terms of having school work and social lives. Nonetheless, the Tigers got a big win Saturday night and would be my #2 team in the state (with Glastonbury at #4, Prep at #1, ND-WH at #2 and WH at #5). You can see why a poll/ranking this early would be kind of frivolous since Glastonbury is 1-1 and Darien is 0-2 but both are much better than a lot of 1-1 teams right now. I will publish my first rankings on New Year's though as I think that will be far enough into the season.
other games to note: ND-WH won 6-1 over Greenwich improving to a 2-0 record, Xavier pulled out a 4-2 win over ND-Fairfield to move to 2-0 as well, Conard beat Trinity Catholic 5-3 and both Tri-Town and Watertown/Pomperaug scored 9 goals in their wins tonight.
DII games:
Trumbull 3 @ Newtown 1
-Trumbull improves to 2-0 and is tied atop DII with Daniel Hand after Hand beat Stamford 4-2 at home today as well.
Wethersfield 0 @ Newington/Berlin 4
East Catholic 2 @ Northwest Catholic 3
-Upset that is really proving NWC's potential for this year. East faces
DIII games:
Rocky Hill/RHAM/Middletown 1 @ Hall/Southington 4
-Hall/Southington's win puts both teams at 1-1 on the season.
Joel Barlow 2 @ Masuk 1
-All the scoring was done in the first period and you can see why these two teams are in DIII as the teams only combined for 34 shots (17 each); Thierry Jean had 16 saves for Joel Barlow while Masuk's Tom Swift recorded 15. For Masuk, Shane Dushay scored on a Charlie Cristo assist whereas Justin MacDougall and Michael Mattson scored for Barlow with Tim Eng and Patrick Mimms picking up assists. Pat Callahan assisted on both goals for the Falcons.
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