The West Haven Mite A hockey team welcomed the Wonderland Wizards out of Bridgeport. The Westies were led by Henry Seslar and Brody Miller, who each scored twice and got their teammates involved in the action. Goaltender, Landon Silverman, was impressive in net and Cooper Owens helped on defense, making it very difficult for the Wizards to score. Goals by Brayden Jacob, Caden Minio, and Keegan Jackson helped the Blue Devils to an impressive win.
The Mites then traveled to South Windsor to face off against the South Windsor Knights. Alexa Jacob was in-between the pipes for this match-up and had many outstanding saves.
Silverman showed he can shoot the puck just as well as he can block it, by netting three goals. The Westies lit the lamp over 15 times, with goals coming from Santino Martin, Emmett Hemming, and others.
The West Haven Mite B hockey team spent Saturday down in Norwalk where the Westies went up against the CT Junior Whalers and had some great plays. Goals were scored by Austin Picard, Landon Alling, Kiera Harrison as well as Jack Weiss.
West Haven traveled to Avon and the Westies had some great competition. Many shot attempts and great puck passing were done by all players, helping JP Beebe, Alling and Caleb Ford score goals for the day. West Haven had many great saves from goalie Jackson Ford.
The West Haven Mite C hockey team hosted Darien Mite B Gray. In net for the Blue Devils was Jackson Ford, who made many excellent blocks and saves during the matchup. Multiple goals were scored by Brayden Gagliardi and Quinn Uscilla, with one goal each scored by Maddy Bruder and Ava Healy.
Shots on net were made by Caleb Ford, Wesley Morrazini and Ryan Shannon. Excellent defense was played by Caleb Ford, Shannon and Healy.
West Haven team took on the Milford Mudhounds. In net for the Mite C’s was Caleb Jackson, who made many great saves during the matchup. Multiple goals were scored by Ford, Gagliardi, Shannon and Uscilla. Healy and Morazzini also scored a goal each, and assists were made by Ford and Shannon. Excellent defense was played by Healy, Ford and Gagliardi.
The West Haven Squirt A1 hockey team had a red-letter weekend taking on the Mamaroneck Tigers and the New Canaan Winter Club in a double-header. The Westies bested Mamaroneck, 3-2, and New Canaan, 6-4, in what turned out to be a battle amongst the goalies.
Goaltenders Ethan McGrath and Matteo Kenworthy stopped 48 shots between the two games. With some remarkable glove saves by McGrath, and point-blank blocks from Kenworthy, the pair were able to limit the Tigers to two goals and four goals for New Canaan, respectively.
Julius Stokes was the sole scorer against Mamaroneck obtaining a hat trick. Stokes again had a multi-point game against New Canaan with yet another hat trick and two assists for an 8-point weekend.
Tyler Gyllensten was another standout in the New Canaan game, scoring a goal and an assist. Jameson Schempp was able to tack two goals on the board with some beautifully set up shots from Stokes, and Noah Silverman gained a point with his assist on Stokes’ first period goal.
The West Haven Peewee AA hockey team took on the Elite Hockey 12U Minor team and posted a 7-2 victory. Tyler Persico, Colin Dempsey (2), Kyle Guarino, TJ Russo, and Jason Troyer scored. Bereski picked up four assists.
The Peewee’s traveled to Bridgeport to face Wonderland AA and posted a 1-0 victory. Max Barbera earned another shutout, making this his sixth full game shutout. Barbera blocked all 20 shots in securing the win for the Blue Devils. Late into the first period, Bereski was able to sneak the puck in for a 1-0 lead.
The Westies met the Western Peewee A team and won, 8-0. With Barbera in net, the Westies secured another shutout.
Bereski, Digioia, Troyer, Locklear (2), Picard (2) and Kelly scored. getting two goals in the period and an assist later.
The Westies then faced the Peewee A Dragons. Smith played spectacularly in net, only allowing one puck to get by him and helping the Blue Devils come out on top with a 5-1 win.
Digioi, D’Aiuto (2), Troyer, and Santino rounded out the scoring.
The Westies finished off weekend in Stamford against the Sharks Peewee A team and posted a 13-1 win. TJ Russo led the scoring with a goal and our assists, D’Aiuto had a four-goal hat trick, with Digioia, Picard, Troyer, Persico, Grillo and Lacasse scored. Russo would also get four assists in the game and another goal in the third.
The West Haven Bantam AA Major hockey team lost, 4-1, to Hamden AA before bouncing back to win, 7-3, over Simsbury, and shut out Hartford Jr. Wolfpack , 3-0. The Westies are now 17-5-2 overall and 9-4-2 in league play.
The Westies struck first against Simsbury. Sean Studley opened the scoring before Simsbury scored three quick goals to go up 3-1. The Westies regrouped and took back the momentum when Charlie Strada banged home a rebound of Mike Madonick’s shot just before the end of the period.
Early in the second period, Studley passed from behind the net to Ethan Kelly to tie it 3-3. With four minutes left, Alex Zhukovsky dove and popped in the rebound for a 4-3 lead.
Leo Mazuroski scored to open the third and make it 5-3. Matt Kelly snuck one under the goalie with assists from his brother Ethan and Will Hamre. Ethan Kelly then deked and scored on a breakaway with assists to Strada and Madonick. Bryce Upson made 29 saves for the Blue Devils.
The Westies traveled to Champions Skating Center in Cromwell to face the Wolfpack. Studley again opened the scoring. The Westies put the game away in the third period. Mazuroski fired from the blue line on a power play and Ethan Kelly flipped in the rebound. Madonick closed the scoring when he took Mazuroski’s feed and banked one off the goalie and in. Upson was solid throughout with 30 saves to earn the shutout.
The Blue Devils dropped a 4-1 decision to Hamden in a close battle. Hamden scored two late goals at the end of the second period and another early in the third to gain control. Charlie Clark scored the only Blue Devil goal with Studley assisting.
The Blue Devils knocked off Central AA, 3-2, before losing a 6-4 decision to the South Westchester (NY) Blackhawks.
At Newington Arena, the Westies were down 2-0 until midway through the second period when Nick Shefter slid in a backhand. Early in the third period, Aaron Campbell deflected a pass over the goalie to tie the game at two. Two minutes later, on a power play, Ethan Kelly scored ice the win. Upson was solid with 26 saves in the game. Against the Blackhawks, the Westies went down 4-0 after the first period. Mazuroski made it 5-1 with a power play goal halfway through the third period, before the Westies mounted a furious comeback. Campbell sniped one and Ethan Kelly stole the puck, charged to the net, and zipped a shot home to make it 5-3. Less than a minute later, the Westies went on a power play and pulled their goalie. Ethan Kelly made it a one goal game. An empty net goal sealed it for the Blackhawks. Upson and Max Malangone combined for 14 saves as the Westies outshot the Blackhawks 39-20.
The West Haven Bantam AA Minor team traveled to Wallingford to take on the Hawks Bantam A team and earned a 9-1 win.
Zach Melchiore, Eddie Thomas, Benji Brown and Dylan Dicioccio all scored two goals in the game. Defenseman Lucas MacNiven also scored from the blue line for the second weekend in a row.
Kai Lupa played tremendously, only allowing one goal in the second period. Johnny Cicarella played in net in the third period and did not let anything by him.
The team then fell to Central AA, 2-0. Central scored both goals in the first period, but was unable to get past the Westies for any more goals in the second or third.
Benny Pikul was once again outstanding in net, blocking over 15 shots each period.
West Haven traveled to Stamford to face the CT JR Whalers. Although down a few players, the Blue Devils gave it their all, ultimately falling. 4-2.
The Westies started the third period down 2-0. Lupa traded places with Pikul in the net to finish the game. The trio of Melchiore, Michael D’Aiuto and Dicioccio were able to get one past the goalie to get the Devils on the board and make it 4-1. Shortly after, Cameren Lipford took advantage of a breakaway and made it 4-2.
The Westies pulled off an incredible 4-1 win over Darien A1. Pikul was outstanding in net, blocking over 20 shots, including many rebounds.
Lipford got things started for the Westies with a shot from the circle after a pass from Brown. Darien tied the game at the beginning of the second, but Guarino answered right back and scored to give the Westies the lead.
Lipford would also add an assist to his day at the start of the third period when he skated all the way up and passed across the crease to Mark Vere who scored. Melchiore scored the fourth and final goal to seal the deal.
For all your West Haven sporting news throughout the year, including game articles by Mike Madera, highlights, photos and more, visit www.westieblue.com.