The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team defeated South Windsor, 7-2, Sunday morning at the South Windsor Ice Arena behind Thomas Porto’s hat trick and a strong performance from the defense.
Porto opened the scoring just 1:09 into the game with a wrist shot from the right circle. Sean Studley then jammed home a loose puck from behind the net 40 seconds later to make it 2-0.
Zach Goetze scored on a breakaway three minutes into the second period for a 3-0 advantage. After South Windsor scored with 1:50 left in the period to get within a pair of goals, Porto won a short-handed faceoff in the defensive zone and fed Goetze for a breakaway goal with one second left for a 4-1 lead.
South Windsor scored on the power play to open the third, but the Blue Devils closed out the scoring with the next three goals to put the game away. Connor Moriarty fed Brady Price for a goal, Dylan Link hit Price, who passed ahead to Porto for a breakaway tally, and Link again assisted on another Porto breakaway goal.
Maddox LaFountain was solid in goal, making 12 saves for West Haven. Matthew Kelly, Dylan Bosworth, Moriarty and Link were stout on defense.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team split a pair of games this weekend, losing to Northwestern and topping Greater New Haven.
The Westies played host to Northwestern Saturday morning at the Edward L. Bennett Rink and fell, 6-1. A slow start would hurt the Westies as Northwestern scored four times in the opening period and never looked back.
West Haven’s only goal came in the second period when Shane Repetto scored an unassisted goal 1:05 into the period to get the team within 4-1.
West Haven got back on the winning track Sunday afternoon with a 6-4 victory over Greater New Haven at the Northford Ice Pavilion. Dave Brown led the way with a goal and two assists, while Nolan Cole added a goal and an assist.
West Haven took a 1-0 lead with 5:40 left in the first period when Cole set up Cade Simone for a power play goal. Mickey Dowd gave the Westies a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded goal off an assist from Jack Sellman, before Greater New Haven scored the next three goals for a 4-2 advantage.
Cole started a string of four straight West Haven goals when he got the Westies back into the contest with an unassisted goal with 2:05 to go in the middle period, before Brown set up Kyle Droney for the equalizer 1:12 into the third. Brown put the Westies on top with 3:10 to go and Colin Deane added an insurance goal off an assist from Brown late in the contest.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team competed in the Steel City Shootout last weekend in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Despite posting an impressive 3-1 record, the Westies came away with only a fifth-place consolation prize.
The Devils opened up against host team Lehigh Valley and dropped a 2-1 decision which would haunt them throughout the remainder of the tournament. The Westies tried to shake off the long drive to Pennsylvania but trailed throughout the game, scoring only at the buzzer of the third period on a goal by Steve Lewis which was assisted by Mike Alfano.
In the second game, with their backs to the wall, the Westies defeated the New Jersey Stars 6-4. Once again, it was Lewis leading the way with a pair of goals. Ben Carfora played a strong game, scoring one and assisting on two others. Nick Boanno, Nico Bruneau, and Ryan Bernardi rounded out the scoring, while Anthony Peschell added two assists. The West Haven defense chipped in also as Ryan Smith, Justin Pniewski, and Luca Ubaldi would all add helpers to the scoring column.
The third game was another must win and the Devils answered the call, defeating the Steel City Renegades, 4-2. DJ Carfora opened up the scoring, netting a goal with an assist from his brother Ben to give the Westies an early lead. Boanno scored next, giving the Devils a 2-0 advantage, but the previously undefeated Steel City team rebounded with the next two goals.
Ben Carfora tallied two in the third to lead the Westies to victory. Rocco Plano and Joe D’Aurio gave huge defensive efforts in helping lead their team to victory. Joe Crisci was solid in net all weekend.
The Westies fell short in the tie breaker and were forced to play a fifth place consolation game. That did not deter them as they dominated the New Jersey Stars, 4-0. Nick Link led the way, posting the shutout. Michael Kelly scored a big goal and Jordan Fabula, Andrew Wrzosek, Adrien Felosh and Joey Honcz skated strong, helping deliver the win.