Keaton McAuliffe
Sports Editor
In yet another infamous New Canaan-Darien match-up, the Rams proved they can come out on top when it counts, beating the Blue Wave 5-2 in the boys FCIAC hockey championship on Saturday, March 8 at Terry Conner’s Rink.
The boys only had about two days to prepare themselves for the battle, as their win against Ridgefield on Wednesday, March 5th was the determining game for the championship. When they realized who Saturday’s opponent was going to be, they quickly had to figure out Darien’s weak spots and get into the mindset of a championship.
“We went over all of our systems and especially focused on powerplay and penalty kill because those are two areas where we know Darien is very good,” co-captain Jack O’Rourke said. “We took it easy, we didn’t want any injuries leading up to the game so we just prepared and got in the mindset that we were playing for the FCIAC championship and that we need to beat Darien.”
While the preparation ultimately paid off, the team and the Ram fans were a little nervous at the end of the first period, after the first goal of the game from Darien remained unanswered. With Darien up 1-0, the team collected in the locker room, “Coming into the locker room after the first period, being down 1-0, was not a good feeling for any of us,” co-captain Peter Reinhardt said. “ We knew we were better than what we were playing during the 1st period and we knew from then on we needed to step up and play better. Our coach just told us that we were easily still in this game and that we just needed to take one shift at a time.”
And it was Peter who first put those words to heart, scoring New Canaan’s first goal of the game to tie it up with Darien 1-1 during a second period penalty on Darien that left them down one player. Peter was able to get the puck in the net on a rebound from a shot from junior Max Begoon.
From there, New Canaan didn’t show any signs of weakness. Only seconds after play restarted, Jack O’Rourke slammed the puck into the net off of a pass from junior Patrick Hompe, giving New Canaan the lead at 2-1.
O’Rourke scored a second time, along with senior Harry Stanton and freshman Drew Morris for a final tally of 5-2 NC.
The Rams’ goalkeeper Mac Wright also had a stunning game, with a total of 24 saves. Wright was also named the MVP of the game and received an honorable mention on the All-FCIAC team.
Seniors Stanton and Stephen Mettler were the two Ram players who were named to the All-FCIAC first team after their performances on Saturday.
Both Jack and Peter admit that the beating Darien meant even more than just an FCIAC championship. I, along with some other players on our team, grew up playing with these kids from Darien and it’s really fun to play against them all the time whether you’re going in to hit them or they’re coming down on you,” Jack said. “So it really meant a lot to beat them. It’s really fun scoring against them especially with such a huge crowd behind us.”
Peter agreed that the support from the NC fans helped to make the game so unforgettable. “Winning an FCIAC championship is undoubtedly one of the best feelings a NC Hockey player can have,” he said. “But with our school behind us, it made the feeling even better. We have come short the past couple years and this year was my last chance to get an FCIAC championship and I’m happy I was able to do so.”
And, after a 6-2 win over Northwest Catholic, Wednesday, March 12th, the boys will move on the next stage in the state championship race. Their next game will be against Notre Dame of West Haven on Saturday, March 15th.
