The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team advanced to the championship game of the 2019 Ocean State Classic, but dropped a 5-3 result to Darien A1 at the Cranston (RI) Memorial Ice Rink on Monday afternoon. The Blue Devils went 3-2-1 over the weekend and are now 28-18-5 overall on the season.
In the finals, West Haven took a 1-0 lead early in the second period when Jonathan Charbonneau threw the puck in front of the net from the point and Sean Studley jammed in the loose puck.
Darien rallied and took a 3-1 lead into the third period but West Haven would not go away. Charbonneau cleared the zone to Ethan Kelly who weaved his way up ice. Kelly deked and scored while crashing into the post to make it 3-2.
Darien went up 5-2 before Kelly scored again on another length of the ice charge going top shelf to finish it off. Maddex LaFountain made 18 saves in the game and the Blue Devils battled to the end, but it was not enough.
Ethan Kelly led the Blue Devil offense with nine goals and eight assists in the tourney. Studley, who scored at least one goal in every game, had eight goals and five assists. Cameren Lipford tallied five goals and five assists. Charbonneau and Ryan Pniewski each had three assists and Matthew Kelly had a goal and assist. Gavin Coady, Zach Melchiore, Aedan Guarino, Lucas Iversen, and Rafi Treat all played valuable minutes on offense on the run to the championship game.
The Blue Devils advanced to the finals in dramatic fashion early Monday morning at Lynch Arena with a 5-4 overtime victory over top seed Providence Hockey Club (PHC) Tier 1 South. Despite giving up the tying goal with only 1:28 left in regulation, the Westies came out flying in OT.
Pniewski kept the puck in the zone at the blue line and hit Ethan Kelly with a pass. Kelly found Lipford on the left wing and his rising wrist shot hit the upper corner 1:02 into the extra period to clinch a spot in the championship game.
It was Lipford’s second goal of the game while Ethan Kelly scored twice and Studley once. The defense of Pniewski, Leo Mazuroski, Matthew Kelly and Jonathan Charbonneau made all the adjustments from the night before (a 7-2 loss to the same team) and were tough throughout the entire tournament. LaFountain was strong in net and made 19 saves in the semifinal.
West Haven earned the fourth seed after going 2-1-1 in round-robin play. The Blue Devils opened with a 2-2 tie against PHC Tier 1 East at Lynch Arena early Saturday morning. Studley scored both goals, including the tying goal with just 1:04 left in the game. LaFountain was stellar in between the pipes, posting 25 saves with many clutch stops to keep the Westies within striking range.
In Saturday afternoon’s second game at the Smithfield Ice Rink, West Haven posted a 5-2 win over the South Shore Kings from Foxboro, MA. The Westies trailed, 2-1, early in the second period before pulling away. Ethan Kelly and Lipford each scored twice while Studley added one.
West Haven then faced PHC Tier 1 North on Sunday morning at Schneider Arena on Providence College’s campus. In the 5-1 win, Ethan Kelly and Studley both tallied twice while Matthew Kelly also found the back of the net.
In Sunday’s late game, the Westies lost, 7-2, to PHC Tier 1 South. Studley and Ethan Kelly scored goals, but Providence took the top seed and dropped West Haven to fourth, setting up the semifinal rematch.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team ended its postseason by advancing to the CHC Tier 4 semifinals, before losing to eventual champion Hamden.
The Westies advanced to the playoff portion of the tournament by going 2-1 in the preliminary round, defeating Central and Southeastern around a heart-breaking loss to Hamden.
West Haven opened the tournament with a 6-4 victory over Central A. Michael Madera led the offense with four goals and an assist, while Mickey Dowd had one goal and four assists, and Zach Goetze added a goal and three assists.
Madera gave the team a 1-0 lead off a deflection of a Bruno Martone shot 17 seconds into the game, before Central scored the next two goals.
West Haven closed the opening period with the next three goals for a 4-2 lead after one period. Madera evened the game at two off assists from Dowd and Goetze, before Dowd gave the Westies a 3-2 lead off a helper from Goetze. Madera closed the first period scoring with 3:33 left off assists from Dowd and Goetze for a 4-2 advantage.
Leading 4-3, Goetze gave the Westies a two-goal lead off assists from Madera and Dowd, before Madera scored off an assist from Dowd for a 6-4 advantage. Bryan Hong and Jacob Silva each played well in goal for the Westies.
The Westies then played rival Hamden and got off to a strong start, before suffering a 5-4 defeat. Goetze and Dowd led the way with two goals apiece.
West Haven scored twice in each of the first two periods for a 4-0 lead, before Hamden rallied with three goals in the third period, including the winner with 0.6 seconds to go.
Goetze gave the Westies a 1-0 lead off an assist from Chris Consorte, before Dowd scored off an assist from Haygen Axelrod for a 2-0 lead. Madera set up Goetze for the third goal and Martone set up Dowd for the 4-0 lead.
The Westies then needed a win to advance to the playoff round and received that victory Saturday morning by topping Southeastern, 4-3. Madera led the offense with two goals, Goetze had a goal and two assists and Dowd added a goal and an assist.
Trailing 1-0, Goetze evened the contest on the first period with an unassisted tally. The Westies trailed 3-1 in the third period before they staged a comeback.
Madera scored off an assist from Dowd 3:50 in to get within one, before Madera evened the contest off an assist from Goetze with 3:04 remaining. Goetze then set up Dowd for the eventual winner 33 seconds later.
Cody Rocchio, Consorte, and Connor Moriarty played well offensively, while Axelrod, Martone, Jason Alling, and Dylan Bosworth were solid defensively, and Silva and Hong played well in goal.
The Westies advanced to the playoff portion and defeated Ridgefield A, 3-2, in the quarterfinal round. Madera scored all three goals to lead the offense.
Trailing 1-0, Madera evened the contest in the opening period with an unassisted tally. The Westies then took a 3-1 lead as Madera took a rebound of an Alling shot and scored 4:28 into the second, before Madera’s third of the game off assists from Dowd and Goetze had the Westies up 3-1 with 7:37 left in the second.
Axelrod, Martone, Ray Heenie, Bosworth and Alling all played well defensively, while Brady Price, Danny Johnson, and Mike Page all played well on offense.
The West Haven run came to an end Sunday morning with a 6-3 loss against Hamden in the semifinals. Dowd led the way with two goals, Goetze scored once and Madera had three assists in the loss.
Hamden jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second period, before Dowd got the Westies within three off an assist from Madera. Dowd scored his second of the game to get within two, before Hamden ended any thoughts of a comeback with two late goals in the third. Goetze rounded out the scoring off an assist from Madera.