Friday's Recap

By: Luke Devoe

Time	Visitor	Score	Home	Rink
1:00	Yarmouth,ME	5-0	Brookfield/Bethel/Danbury	Danbury Ice Arena
1:15	East Haven	6-0	Greenwich	Dorothy Hamill Ice Rink
1:30	East Catholic	5-2	Guilford	Bennett Rink - West Haven
West Haven D2 Christmas Tournament
2:00	Fairfield Prep	7-2	Franklin, MA	Adelard
4:00	Cheshire	4-6	Amity	Bennett Rink - West Haven
West Haven D2 Christmas Tournament
6:30	Joel Barlow	0-4	Lyman Hall/Haddam-Killingworth	Northford Ice Pavilion
8:30	New Milford	4-1	North Branford	Northford Ice Pavilion

In the consolation of the 2013 D2 West Haven Christmas Tournament, the East Catholic Eagles drubbed the Guilford Indians 5-2 in a game that was shortly in doubt.  Early, on the heels of three straight careless Eagles' minors, Guilford was able to score first on a Brian Donohue blast from the point.  With the exception of a late Charlie Molloy goal mouth score, that was really the only good feelings the Indians could take away from Friday's tilt.  The Eagles soared on the wings on two goals each from junior Jake McCarthy and senior Alex Manner.  Dan Lemieux also scored for East Catholic. Lost in the blowout win was senior Patrick Bishop who went into the half boards awkwardly early and never returned.  He's considered day to day with an upper body injury.

In the second game, the D2 Championship, Amity and Cheshire put on a display for the ages.  The two combined for an electric, up and down game filled with plenty of excitement.  In the end, Amity came out on top 6-4 with speedy senior Adam Shea collecting a hat trick and Zach Shelnitz knocking home two including the game winner.  The game kept going back and forth.  Cheshire lead 2-1 after one on the heels of a blue collar, hard nosed Jon Hauser goal and a point blast from Luke Vendetto.  Amity bounced back immediately with two goals within the first two minutes of the second period from Brett McNeil and Shea, his first, both of the highlight variety.  Cheshire then topped that with two goals of their own within the first two minutes of the third period.  On a pretty Vendetto feed from behind the net Matt Jordan tied the game at three.  Shortly after that, Joe D'Errico followed him up with a tally of his own putting the Rams on top with a ton of game to play.  However, as time wound down and we found ourselves with less than a minute to play, the Rams held on to the same lead.  That was until Shea struck again.  With a bunch of bodies collected in the right circle, Shea uncorked a laser guided snipe from a tough angle, knotting the game at 4 and sending the Spartan faithful into hysterics.  They weren't done yet, breaking out as time ticked down Shea found himself and linemate Zach Shelnitz on a two on one heading in on Cheshire goalie Joey Solla. Shea saucered a pass over the Ram defender's stick where Shelnitz, corralled, and hammered one home top shelf giving Amity a 5-4 lead with 8 seconds to go.  Shea would then add on an empty netter to complete the hat trick. The win boosts Amity to (3-1) on the year but the loss devastatingly drops Cheshire to (1-3).  It should be noted that those three losses came to teams with a combined 8-3 record and the Rams team that skated stride for stride with Amity yesterday, New Milford on opening night and East Catholic in their second game of the year is still a legit title contender.  It may seem like a bold statement but Cheshire will put this together at some point.  But, at least for now, you have to feel for the kids, coaching staff and fans who have had their hearts broken in losses like this far too often these past few years.  Chins up Rams, you played a great game.

Elsewhere, BBD falls to (1-3) on the year with a 5-0 loss to Yarmouth (ME).  The IceCats faced a lofty task of facing five out of state teams to start the year.  They finish this tough part of the schedule today when they host Morris Knolls (NJ).

East Haven continues to roll, improving to (4-0) on the season with a 6-0 rout of Greenwich at Dorthy Hamill yesterday.  The win was the Yellow Jackets first against a D1 team, granted it was a bottom tier Cardinals club but the Easties just keep winning.  Captain Matt Longobardi dropped a hat trick on the Cardinals while goalie Tom Delucia recorded a 23 save shutout in the victory.

Fairfield Prep put it together Friday in a 7-2 win over Franklin High (MA) in a loser's bracket game of the Mount St. Charles Holiday Face-Off.  With the win the Jesuits will go on to face host Mount St. Charles today at 3:00 in the fifth place game.  Matt Wikman collected a hat trick in the victory while captain Dean Lockery added two goals and an assist.  Prep junior Jack Taubl got the win in net stopping 17 of 19 Franklin shots.  Prep improves to (2-2) with the win while Franklin drops to (1-4).

Lyman Hall-Haddam Killingworth took down Joel Barlow 4-0 last night at the NIP behind two Nick Baccaro goals and a 22 save shutout from sophomore Zach O'Toole.  Russell Bennett, a position player started in net for Joel Barlow as both goalie were unable to play.  He did okay for that not being his regular position.  Barlow drops to (1-3) on the year while LHHK moves to (1-2).

New Milford put together a complete game effort and took down previously unbeaten North Branford 4-1 last night at the NIP.  Steven Berry lead the charge finishing with two goals and two assists while Lane McMahon added a goal and two assists in the victory.  The T-Birds fall to (2-1) on the year while New Milford improves to (2-1).