The West Haven Mite A travel hockey team faced off against the Norwalk Roughriders at home this Saturday. Andrew Grillo contributed to its win with a hat trick. Brooklyn Maher hustled to the puck and made it tough for her opponents to get by her.
On Sunday, the Westies traveled to Bridgeport for a game against the Wonderland Wizards. They added another win to their weekend. Owen Santos put the puck in the net and Kyle Guarino and Luke Jaques helped lead a strong defensive team effort.
The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team posted two convincing home wins at Edward L. Bennett Rink this week. The Blue Devils defeated the Norwalk Roughriders, 6-2, on Saturday and followed that with an 8-1 win over the Central Capitals on Sunday. The Westies have won eleven straight games and stand at 14-4-1 overall on the season.
Zach Goetze opened the scoring against the Roughriders on Saturday morning by converting a breakaway from Ethan Kelly 2:41 into the first period. With 4:17 remaining in the period, Brady Price hit Goetze, who passed to Thomas Porto for an easy tap-in and a 2-0 lead.
In the second period, Goetze and Porto assisted on Price’s goal just 35 seconds in, before Sean Studey’s backhander from Ethan Kelly a minute later made it 4-0 Blue Devils. Porto won a defensive zone faceoff while short-handed and hit Goetze for another breakaway and a 5-0 lead after two periods.
Norwalk cut it the deficit to 5-2 with goals one minute apart in the third period, while Porto rounded out the scoring with a breakaway of his own from Goetze. Jacob Silva made eight saves in goal for the Westies.
On Sunday morning, the Blue Devils jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one period against the Capitals. Goetze scored on a breakaway and added three assists in the period. Porto, Price, Ethan Kelly and Ryan Pniewski scored goals, while Dylan Link chipped in with an assist.
Goetze went five-hole from Dylan Bosworth, Price snapped home a wrister from Goetze, and Matthew Kelly scored from the point to give West Haven an 8-0 lead in the second period. Central scored a power play goal in the final minute of the second to make it 8-1. Silva was dazzling between the pipes in the third period, making several stops including a sweet glove save, and finished with 16 saves in the game.
The West Haven Squirt B travel hockey team came away with two victories this weekend with a 6-1 win over the Northwestern Icehawks and a 5-4 win over the Norwalk Roughriders.
Against the Icehawks, Cameren Lipford had five goals and JJ Hall had one as well. Rafi Treat and Christopher Consorte each had an assist. Maddex Lafountain was solid in net with 14 saves for the Westies.
On Sunday, Lipford led the way again with four goals. Gavin Coady also added a goal. Tyler McColgan played well with three assists and Gavin Fanelli had an assist as well.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 13-5-2 on the season with a win and a tie this past weekend. The Westies opened the weekend with a 2-2 tie at Ridgefield, before topping West Hartford, 7-1, on Sunday.
Against Ridgefield, the Westies jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but could not hold on in the tie. Mickey Dowd and Michael Madera each had a goal and an assist in the tie, and Brendan Smith played well in goal.
With the Westies short-handed, Madera sent Dowd in on a break and Dowd put the Westies on top with 8:33 left in the opening period. Madera gave West Haven a 2-0 lead with 2:54 left on the opening period, scoring in front, off assists from Cade Simone and Dowd.
West Haven never scored again in the contest, and Ridgefield scored once in the first period and added a tying goal with 9:06 left in the game to force the tie.
Against West Hartford, ten different players were in the scoring column for the Westies. Dante Hardt led the way with two goals and an assist, Madera added a goal and two assists, while Kyle Droney had two assists.
The Westies led 1-0 after one period as Colin Deane scored in front off assists from Jayden Spreyer and Nolan Cole. With the game even at one, West Have scored the final six goals of the game, including four in the second period.
Shane Repetto gave West Haven a 2-1 lead with a short-handed goal off an assist from Hardt, before Hardt scored off an assist from Droney 39 seconds later for another short-handed tally. Droney set up Hardt again with 4:46 left in the middle period for a 4-1 lead, before Madera put in a rebound of a Dave Brown shot with 1:58 left in the second for a 5-1 advantage.
The Westies iced the contest with two more goals in the third. Dowd scored off an assist from Madera with 4:36 gone in the third, and Madera sent Simone in for a goal with 4:52 left for the 7-1 final.
The West Haven Bantam A team experienced the highs of being dominant this weekend by defeating the Greenwich Blues, 10-2, on Sunday, and the lows of being dominated by dropping a 10-0 decision to the Wonderland Wizard’s A team on Saturday.
On Saturday, the Westies hung around for a while playing the Wizards, one of Connecticut’s top teams. Rocco Plano and Ryan Smith helped keep the score close early with some strong defensive work. Solid back checking by Michael Kelly, Ryan Bernardi and Nick Boanno was beneficial as well. The Wizards just kept the pressure on and were too much for the Devils to handle on this day. After falling behind 3-0 after the first period, the Westies never found a groove on their way to a tough loss.
Sunday was a different feel. The Westies jumped out to 7-0 first period lead and coasted home to a 10-2 final.
Linemates Ben Carfora, DJ Carfora and Steven Lewis led the way, scoring two goals each. Five of the goals came in the first period alone. Mike Alfano picked up a goal and an assist, Anthony Peschell and Justin Pniewski also tallied late. Joe Honcz chipped in with two assists and Joe D’Aurio added a helper as well. Nick Link made all the tough saves along the way as well.