The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team won both games over the weekend to improve their overall record to 26-8-2. The Westies knocked off the Northwestern Icehawks A, 6-1, and then trounced the Southern Stars A, 6-0.
On Saturday morning at Edward L. Bennett Rink, the Westies took down the Icehawks, 6-1, behind 25 saves from Jacob Silva and a hat trick by Zach Goetze.
Goetze opened the scoring 1:28 into the opening period when he tapped in Thomas Porto’s feed left right on the doorstep. The Icehawks tied it at 1-1 two minutes later, but with only 18 seconds left in the period, Porto won a faceoff to defenseman Dylan Bosworth who fired through a screen for a 2-1 West Haven advantage.
Goetze made it 3-1 midway through the second when he picked the pocket of a defenseman and jammed the puck home for a short-handed tally. Later in the period, Bosworth had a nice keep-in at the blue line and found Brady Price. Price showed some nifty stick handling through traffic and wristed one in for a 4-1 lead. In the final minute of the second, once again short-handed, Dylan Link poke checked the puck away, raced the length of the ice, and fired a wrist shot to make it 5-1.
The Westies finished off the game in the third period with solid defense and outstanding goaltending from Silva, who made two slick glove saves and also thwarted a breakaway. The final goal came when Connor Moriarty chipped ahead to Goetze, who slid the puck under the pads for the 6-1 end result.
On Sunday, at the Milford Ice Pavilion, the Blue Devils dominated the Southern Stars A, winning 6-0 in convincing fashion. Sean Studley and Porto led the way with two goals apiece.
Studley opened the scoring 4:04 into the first period when he knocked in Ryan Pniewski’s pass with Ethan Kelly also assisting. Studley then made it 2-0 when he backhanded his own rebound off the far post and in with Kelly assisting again. Porto capped the scoring in the first when he stole the puck at the blue line and deposited the biscuit in the basket with 2:33 remaining.
Midway through the second period, Porto converted another breakaway with a laser that made it 4-0. Studley passed to Moriarty, who fired off the goalie’s pads, but Matthew Kelly swept in the rebound for a power play goal and a 5-0 lead. In the third period, Bosworth beat a defender and then ripped one to the far post to cap the scoring. Silva made five saves to earn the shutout between the pipes.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 24-11-4 with a split of its two games this past weekend. The Westies opened the weekend with a road victory over Darien, but fell to Simsbury at home Sunday morning.
Against Darien, Michael Madera led the way with a pair of goals, Bruno Martone added two assists, and Kyle Droney and Cade Simone each finished with a goal and an assist in a 6-5 victory.
Madera gave the Wessties a 1-0 lead 5:44 into the game when he scored off an assist from Martone. West Haven increased the lead to 2-0 1:38 later when Droney scored off an assist from Simone, before Droney set up Simone 5:26 later for a 3-0 advantage.
Leading 3-1, Madera increased the margin to three goals when he broke in to score on an unassisted breakaway. Darien rallied to score the next three goals, to even the game at four after two periods of play, but Sean Bosworth scored off an assist from Martone 2:26 into the third for a 5-4 advantage.
Darien evened the game 1:42 later, but Colin Deane scored an unassisted goal with 9:46 to go to give the Westies a 6-5 lead.
On Sunday, the Westies got off to a good start, but could not hang on in a 5-1 loss to Simsbury. West Haven scored its lone goal 3:19 into the game when Jayden Spreyer scored off an assist from Madera, but Simsbury scored the next two goals of the period, added two more in the second, and another in the third to top the Westies.