Doug Reilly
Reporter
On Saturday March 15th, the boys hockey team defeated the North Haven Indians with a score of 4-0 at Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport. Next up for the Rams is Fairfield Prep in the semifinals, a match-up everyone has been waiting for all season.
After a few sloppy back-and-forth minutes to start off the game, junior forward Jimmy Joe Granito made a big hit in the neutral zone close to center ice. Despite taking a minor penalty on the play, the Rams woke up.
Just a few minutes later, the Rams went on a power play of their own, taking advantage just 17 seconds into the penalty. Sophomore defenseman Ryan Begoon passed to senior captain forward Kris Nugent just inside the blue line. Nugent fired a low slap shot on net and senior forward Tim Robustelli knocked in the rebound past North Haven goalie Mike Amarone with 5:05 remaining in the first period.
The Rams took advantage of yet another power play a little over 3 minutes into the second period when senior captain forward Sam Stanton scored off of a nice feed from senior captain Andrew Leslie, giving the Rams a 2-0 lead. The remainder of the second period was quiet and scoreless, and the Rams took a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.
Early in the third period, junior defenseman Tom Krieger and senior captain defenseman Bo McGinnis both took penalties, giving the Indians a 5 on 3 opportunity for about 30 seconds. Just 12 seconds later, Ryan Begoon went on a breakaway for the Rams, only to be brought down by North Haven’s Jay Johns. After about 15 seconds, the score hit 4-4. The FCIAC champion Rams took advantage of the open ice for a third time when Andrew Leslie beat goalie Mike Amarone in the top right corner of the net with 12:28 to play, giving the Rams a 3-0 lead.
Freshman goalie Tim Nowacki, who accounted for 23 saves, stayed strong in the net for the Rams, especially in the 3rd period. Two more North Haven penalties (their fifth and sixth of the game) kept the Indians from mounting any sort of comeback. With 2:03 remaining in the contest, Andrew Leslie added another goal, his second of the game, off Ryan Begoon’s second assist.
With the 4-0 victory, the Rams, along with Fairfield Prep, Hamden, and 16 seed Darien have kept their state title dreams alive. The semifinal between New Canaan and Fairfield Prep will be played at 5:30 pm on Thursday March 18th at Yale University’s Ingalls Rink, better known as “the Yale Whale.” The winner of that game will play the winner of the Darien vs. Hamden game on Saturday March 20th.
