Mackenzie Lewis
Reporter
The boys hockey team capped off their season last week with an FCIAC title and a brief run in States. Through their incredible wins and tough losses the team finished the season on Saturday, March 15th with a 19-5-1 record. The highlight of the season was their FCIAC win over Darien on Saturday, March 8th.
The team came in as the underdogs, beating the number one seed team 5-2 to take home the FCIAC championship. According to Senior Captain Jack O’Rourke “Beating Darien in the FCIAC championship was an unreal feeling that will be remembered forever.”
Going into the states, Senior Goalie Mac Wright believed, “the team was confident they could win.” The boys played their first round State game against Northwest Catholic. New Canaan took the lead in the first period, with two goals both scored by Jack O’Rourke with assists from Harry Stanton and Patrick Hompe. Later on in the period, Northwest Catholic came back with two goals of their own.
At the beginning of the second period the teams were tied at 2-2, but New Canaan took the lead with three goals in the second period. Two of the goals were scored by Harry Stanton and one by Peter Reinhardt. The team went on to win the game with another goal from Peter Reinhardt in the third period. The final score was 6-2.
The team moved on to the State quarterfinals against a team they had already played twice: Notre Dame West Haven (NDWH). The game was held at the Bridgeport Webster Bank Arena, which is also the home of the American Hockey League (AHL) team, the Sound Tigers. “It was a fun experience playing at such a big stadium. The fans were all amazing, ” Jack O’Rourke said.
The team had previously beaten NDWH in the regular season, the first was 4-3 in overtime and the second game resulted in a 3-2 win. Jack said, “Both games we beat NDWH, we brought a high powered offense and were able to put a few past their goalie. In states, though, their goalie played phenomenally and we had difficulty scoring.” The NDWH Junior Goalie Wade Conlon had 24 saves. New Canaan outshot NDWH 24-23.
Although a full Bussey’s Bombsquad was in attendance, the game didn’t go as planned for New Canaan. The score was tied at 0-0 leading into the third period. Notre Dame West Haven ended up scoring late into the third period, making the score 1-0. With about two minutes left in the game, New Canaan pulled their goalie, Mac Wright, and NDWH put their second goal in on an open net. The final score of the game was 2-0 NDWH, ending the season for the Rams.
Mac added, “It’s hard to beat a team three times in a season, but it’s not impossible. We got bounces and luck in the previous two games that we didn’t get in the quarter final. I guess that’s just how it goes.”
With the season over, Jack seemed to have some regrets. “When a state championship is on the line, you have to bring everything and leave nothing on the ice,” he said.
The team is happy to be going home with an FCIAC championship, especially against rival Darien. “Beating Darien was amazing,” Mac said. “Especially in front of the fans. And their fans. The championship means much more when you beat Darien than if we had beaten another team. It was an amazing feeling.”
