Sam Stoner, Reporter
@sstonercourant
With visions of last year’s FCIAC championship win over Darien, the Rams boys hockey team looked to repeat last year’s win on Wednesday, March 4 during the FCIAC semi-finals. However, they lost in a heartbreaking battle by a score of 2-0 at Terry Conners Ice Rink in Stamford.
Emotions and intensity were high, so the team concentrated on calming down before hitting the ice for the huge game ahead of them. “I wanted to stay focused and ignore the outside noise,” said senior co-captain JP McMahon. “Things were setting in and people were getting mentally focused.”
Before the game, New Canaan fans had already established their presence outside of the locker room, supporting the boys as they tried for a spot in the championship. “The atmosphere was unreal,” said senior co-captain Ted O’Rourke. “We could hear both bomb squads chanting from our locker room beneath the bleachers.”
Despite giving up a goal late in the first period, the Ram’s hopes were still high, though they knew they would need to fight to regain the lead. “Teams who panic in those situations fall apart,” said JP. “One of the things I told the team was if we go up or down by a goal or two, the mentality has the be the same. We have to be relentless.”
Senior co-captain Peter Katz also hoped the team could regain the lead, even after the team gave up its second goal of the game only a few minutes into the second period. “We had just come back from 2-0 down against Fairfield a few days before,” Peter said. “We knew we could still be in the game.”
New Canaan, down by 2 goals early in the second period, needed to score. “High school hockey is all about waves of momentum,” Peter said.
Starting goaltender sophomore Liam Mooney made 16 saves as the Rams offense tallied up a total of 27 shots. However, despite this well-fought battle by the Rams, they could not catch up to Darien and fell by a score of 2-0.
When the third period finally came to a close, the atmosphere off the ice had changed. “It was absolutely silent right after we got off the ice,” JP said. “Some were shocked, others disappointed, and other just plain mad.”
The Rams were in a state of shock and regret after the game. “After the game was pretty rough,” Ted said. “Everyone was just thinking about what they could have done differently to get the win.”
Although the team didn’t come home with a championship victory, players still consider the season a success numerous accomplishments, such as their defeat of Fairfield in double overtime in the first round of FCIACs and their win over Ridgefield on senior night. “It always hurts to lose, especially to Darien in the playoffs,” Peter said. “But we did a lot of good things and I know the team next year will be able to build off our success.”
