The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team went 1-1 this weekend and now stands at 20-14-3 overall on the season. The Blue Devils lost a close game to Wallingford A, 4-3, and then bounced back to shut out New Canaan A1, 5-0.
On Saturday morning at Edward L. Bennett Rink, the Westies hosted Wallingford. West Haven dropped a hard-fought contest, 4-3. Ethan Kelly led the offense with two goals and an assist.
Kelly got West Haven on the scoreboard three minutes into the game when he snapped a wrist shot that went bar down. Blue Devils goalie Maddex LaFountain made several clutch saves in the first period to keep the score 1-0.
Kelly scored again two minutes into the second period before Wallingford tied it later in the stanza. Ryan Pniewski regained the lead for West Haven when his shot from the right point made it through traffic with Kelly assisting. Wallingford tallied twice in the third period and shut down the Westies’ offense to escape with the win. LaFountain made 12 saves in the game.
The Blue Devils responded a day later when they traveled to the New Canaan Winter Club for a game played on their outdoor rink. West Haven controlled the game and blanked New Canaan, 5-0.
Cameren Lipford, Matthew Kelly and Sean Studley all registered a goal and assist in the win.
The Kelly brothers got things started in the opening minute when Ethan fed Matthew for a shot from the point that hit the back of the net.
The Kelly boys almost struck on the same play in the second period but the shot was saved. Lipford backhanded home the rebound for a 2-0 lead. Later, Leo Mazuroski made a nice play to keep the puck in the zone then made a beautiful pass to Studley. The winger snapped off a wrist shot and quickly knocked in his own rebound for a 3-0 lead.
Ethan Kelly roofed a wrist shot with Mazuroski assisting to open the third period. West Haven capped the scoring when Lipford passed out of the zone and Studley tipped it to Ethan Kelly. Kelly scored after a pretty deke. LaFountain posted ten saves for the shutout victory.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team took home the Gold Medal in a trip to Lake Placid this past weekend. The Westies went 4-0 and outscored their opponents 26-3 in the tournament.
Michael Madera led the offense in the tournament with eight goals, Mickey Dowd scored six times, Mike Page had five tallies, Zach Goetze added three goals, and Dylan Bosworth scored twice.
Goaltenders Bryan Hong and Jacob Silva were spectacular throughout the tournament. Hong was perfect as he did not allow a goal over the four days, and also took home the goaltending title in the Skills Competition.
The Westies opened the tournament with an 8-1 victory over the Hartford North Stars from Maryland. Madera, who won the shootout title in the Skills Competition, led the offense with four goals and two assists, while Bruno Martone added three assists, and Dowd had a goal and an assist.
West Haven took a 3-0 lead in the opening period and never looked back. Goetze opened the scoring 1:31 in off an assist from Madera, Page scored off an assist from Brady Price 3:22 later, and Madera scored off an assist from Dowd with 4:14 left in the period.
Madera gave West Haven a 4-0 lead off an assist from Goetze 3:20 into the second, and Dowd scored off an assist from Madera 52 seconds later. Leading 5-1, Madera extended the lead with a goal off an assist from Martone with 3:09 left in the period.
Madera, from Martone and Goetze, and Bosworrth, from Martone, gave the Westies their final goals in the third period. Silva was solid in goal for the Westies, making nine saves.
West Haven won its second straight contest to open the tournament with a 6-0 victory over the New York Lumberjacks.
Madera led the way with three goals and an assist, while Dowd, Page, and Bosworth also scored once apiece. Martone, Price, Haygen Axelrod, and Goetze also had assists in the win, while Hong was stellar in goal, making 10 saves in the shutout.
The Westies improved to 3-0 and advanced to the Gold Medal game with a 5-1 win over the Maine Wild Saturday evening. Goetze and Dowd led the way with two goals apiece, Page added one goal, Dowd and Madera added two assists and Goetze also had a helper.
Page gave the Westies a 1-0 lead off an assist from Price 4:54 into the game, before Goetze scored the first of his two straight goals off assists from Madera and Dowd. Leading 3-1, Goetze set up Dowd with 6:29 left in the third, before Madera and Goetze set up Dowd for the final goal with 2:13 to go.
The Westies took home the title with a 7-1 victory over Hartford in the Gold Medal game Sunday morning. Dowd led the offense with two goals and three assists, Page scored twice, Goetze had three assists, and Madera had a goal and an assist.
Trailing 1-0, West Haven evened the game with 2.2 seconds left in the opening period when Madera scored off assists from Goetze and Dowd. Ray Heenie gave West Haven a lead it never relinquished 3:03 into the second off assists from Dowd and Goetze, before Jason Alling scored a power play goal 42seconds later for a 3-1 advantage.
The Westies iced the game in the third period with four goals. Dowd scored 43 seconds in off assists from Madera and Heenie, and Page sandwiched two unassisted tallies around a goal by Dowd.
Hong and Silva again were outstanding in goal, combining for 16 saves. Connor Moriarty, Cody Rocchio, and Chris Consorte all played well in the tournament.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team went 1-1 over the past weekend. Saturday brought the Greenwich Blues to the Bennett Rink in West Haven, where the Blue Devils came out on top 8-1.
The Westies got the scoring started early in the first minute, with Carl Murgo getting the first goal of the day. Dante Hardt was credited with the assist. Justin Pniewski scored with 11 minutes left in the first off an assist from David Brown.
Less than a minute later, Colin Deane scored, with Matt Morgan getting the assist. Morgan then scored two back to back unassisted goals to close out the first period.
Hardt scored the first goal of the second period, with Joey Honcz and Murgo getting the helpers. Jayden Spreyer then scored top shelf to make it 7-0. Cade Simone got the helper on Spreyer’s tally.
Pniewski then scored his second of the game to finish the scoring for the Westies. Sean Bosworth was credited with the helper. The Blues were able to score in the third to make the game 8-1, after West Haven went scoreless in the final period.
Brendan Smith played an excellent game in goal. Cade Simone, Hardt and Kevin Gardner all played well in the contest.
On Sunday the Blue Devils traveled to the Northford Ice Pavilion to take on the Great New Haven Warriors, where they were sent home with a 4-2 loss.
Pniewski scored both goals for the Westies, the first goal in the first period, and the second goal in the third period. The first goal went bar down from the tops of the circles. Morgan was credited with the assist on Pniewski’s first goal.
Smith played a complete game and made key saves to keep the score where it was. Nolan Cole and Matt Wezenski played well in the loss.