The West Haven Squirt A hockey team dropped both games this weekend and fell to 27-10-2 on the season. The Westies lost, 9-4, to Yale AA on Saturday before losing, 7-0, to Wizards A on Sunday.
On Saturday morning at Edward L Bennett Rink against a strong Yale team, the Westies played a solid opening period and grabbed the early lead.
Zach Goetze hit Brady Price who slid the puck to Thomas Porto for a tap-in, power play goal giving West Haven a 1-0 lead 5:23 into the game. Just over a minute later, Goetze carried down the right side and centered to Ethan Kelly. Kelly’s initial shot was saved, but Price jammed in the rebound for a 2-0 lead. Yale capitalized on a giveaway with 13 seconds left and it was 2-1 Westies after one as Blue Devils goalie Jacob Silva was brilliant in the period, making several great saves.
Goetze scored on a breakaway from Porto early in the second period for a 3-1 advantage, but midway through the period, penalties derailed the Blue Devils. Yale scored five goals while on the man-advantage, and added an even-strength tally to take a 7-3 lead into the second intermission.
Yale scored twice more in the third, while Goetze fed Porto for a power-play goal with three minutes to play to make the final score 9-4. Silva finished with 31 saves in total.
On Sunday at Wonderland of Ice, the Westies ran into a buzz saw against the Wizards A team. Silva made 26 saves, but the offense was held in check and West Haven lost, 7-0.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 24-12-5 with a loss and a tie this weekend. The Westies opened the week with a 7-0 loss against Greenwich, then rallied to tie Putnam, New York, 2-2.
With the game close on the road against Greenwich Saturday evening, the Westies watched the game slip away in the second period of what became a one-sided loss.
West Haven rebounded with a solid effort Sunday morning at the Edward L. Bennett Rink to tie Putnam. The Westies took a 1-0 lead 4:20 into the contest when Dante Hardt scored in front off a pass from Nolan Cole. Putan responded with a pair of goals 2:17 apart to take a 2-1 lead after one period of play.
West Haven battled and evened the game late in the second period as Michael Madera fed Jayden Spreyer to even the game at two with 2:52 left in the period.
The Westies had plenty of scoring chances the rest of the way, but could not find the back of the net as the game ended in a tie.