The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team had its win streak snapped and its offense held in check over the weekend. The Blue Devils lost to Wonderland A, 3-1, and Yale 2007A, 5-2. West Haven is now 8-11-1 overall and 7-7-0 in CHC play.
On Saturday morning at the Wonderland of Ice, the Wizards and Westies skated to a 0-0 tie after one period. Jacob Silva was sharp in goal for the Westies. Wonderland broke through with a pair of goals, the first with a man advantage, just over one minute apart early in the second period. West Haven cut the lead to 2-1 with a goal two minutes into the third period.
Brady Price carried the puck into the offensive zone. His pass was gathered by Mike Page who spun and fired a wrist shot that found the net. The Westies created a few more chances but were unable to capitalize. The Wizards scored in the final seconds for a 3-1 win. Silva finished with 26 saves as Wonderland outshot West Haven, 29-22.
On Sunday morning at the Edward L. Bennett Rink, the Westies hosted Yale 2007A. Yale took a 4-0 lead before Ronnie Mastroni got West Haven on the scoreboard with an unassisted goal with five minutes to play in the second period.
After another Yale tally, the Westies completed the scoring when Alex Bowery fed Price for a back-hand goal late in the third period. Greg Galasso and Silva split the game in goal and combined for 22 saves.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team dropped a pair of contest this weekend. The WEsties fell to Darien AA Saturday evening and lost at home against Yale on Sunday.
West Haven opened the week with an 8-1 loss against Darien AA in Stamford Saturday evening. Trailing 2-0 in the first period, West Haven cut the deficit in half when Colin Deane scored off an assist from Cam Delvecchio with 2:47 remaining in the opening period. Darien scored less than 10 seconds later and the Westies never got closer again.
Darien put the game away with two goals in the second period and three more in the third.
The Westies hosted Yale Sunday evening at the Edward L. Bennett Rink and fell 4-2. Delvecchio scored both goals for the Westies.
Trailing 2-0, Delvecchio scored with 31 seconds remaining in the opening period off assists from Deane and Haygen Axelrod. Yale scored twice in 51 seconds for a 4-1 lead in the second, before Delvecchio cut the deficit in half with 7:44 to go in the game off an assist from Dave Brown.
West Haven put pressure on, but could not get any closer.
The West Have Blue Devils U-16 team, which is currently ranked 15th nationally in Tier II, captured the Tier II state championship in thrilling fashion this past weekend.
The weekend started off with a semifinal game against the number four seed Darien Blue Wave. The Blue Devils jumped out to a 4-0 lead seven minutes into the game and never looked back. West Haven got scoring up and down the lineup and defeated Darien 11-0 to move on to the championship game against the Wonderland Wizards.
During the championship game on Sunday morning, the Blue Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead, getting goals from Anthony Ramano and Eli Brubacher. It was a back and forth game, but the Blue Devils were able to lock down their defensive zone coverage and win the game 2-1 in what was a true team effort by each and every individual.
Coaches Erik Roos and Rick Beckwith have now won eight straight U-16 state championships. The Westies will play in Troy, Michigan (April 2-6), where they will be competing once again for a national championship.
Roos and Beckwith will be heading back to the same venue where they captured their 2013 National Championship.