John Berger
Senior Editor
After being pulled in a game earlier this season against St. Joes, senior goalie Chris Koennecke was masterful Wednesday night in the rematch, despite a 3-2 loss in overtime. Koennecke stopped a number of shots in the second and third period, making several sprawling saves, but it wasn’t quite enough to win.
After New Canaan took a 2-1 lead with about 11 minutes left in the third period, St. Joes answered back almost a minute later to tie the game and then went on to win after scoring a goal a little more than four minutes into overtime.
“Both teams played hard,” said Senior Co-Captain Ben Patch, “we had plenty of opportunities, but the puck just wasn’t bouncing our way.”
Koennecke said, “The game was so close and competitive that often it just comes down to one play. Whoever is able to capitalize on their opportunities will come out with a win.”
The Rams had two leads during the game, but they were quickly surrendered. Harry Stanton scored with 8.44 seconds left in the first period off of an assist by Puck Richardson. St. Joes responded by scoring 1:18 later in the period. After a scoreless second period in which Koennecke stopped several breakaway opportunities, New Canaan struck again with 12:03 to go in the third period when Stanton scored his second goal of the game off of a deflection by the St. Joe’s goalie. The Cadets once again came back to tie the game when they scored a little while later with 10:49 remaining in the game.
After both teams couldn’t score in the rest of regulation, the game went on to overtime. With a little less than 11 minutes left in the extra frame, St. Joes forced a turnover and then converted on the other end with a quick shot that got past Koennecke and ended the game.
The players seemed to have mixed emotions after the game. “I wasn’t angry with myself, I was more just in disbelief that it was over,” Ben said.
“After losing a game like that, it’s really difficult, especially because we all knew how close we were to competing for a third FCIAC title in four years.”
New Canaan seemed to get the better of the action in the first period, as they controlled possession and kept the puck mostly on St. Joe’s half of the ice. Despite that, they headed to the locker room with a 1-1 tie. “It gives you a lot of confidence when you come out strong and dominate the game,” Koennecke said, “but at the end of the day it comes down to capitalizing on your opportunities, and we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”
Koennecke was at his best after the first period, thwarting numerous scoring opportunities from St. Joes, with help from his defensemen, such as Jack O’Rourke and Steven Mettler.
New Canaan had a slight advantage overall in terms of shots, with a 36-34 advantage over St. Joes.
On the decisive goal in overtime, St. Joes ripped a shot into the upper part of the net that just beat Koennecke. “I felt good about the way I played, because as a goalie, your goal is to give your team an opportunity to win night in and night out. It’s just unfortunate that I ended up one save short at the end there,” he said.
Even with the loss, New Canaan will have a chance to seek revenge when they open up the state tournament next Wednesday against the very same St. Joes Cadets in Shelton.
“It was a very even matchup. It feels good to know that we have a chance to end their season,” Ben said.
“I think it’s going to be a sweet opportunity for revenge,” Senior Jack Howard said.
