The West Haven Youth Hockey Mite A team was back in action with two tough games. On Saturday, the Westies hosted the CT Junior Rangers Elite, with the two teams playing to a thrilling tie.
Logan Minio and Brady Salkins led the offense, while Henry Seslar worked the wing. Cooper Owens sparked the counterattack from defense, and Caden Minio back-checked hard to help his team defensively.
The Westie Mite A’s were back in action on Sunday, with a late afternoon game against Northwestern in South Kent. After a close first period which saw Jax Guarino score and Jameson Schempp make several big stops in goal, the Westies pulled ahead and never looked back. Jameson Eid also scored, and Keegan Jackson covered on defense and got into key positions on offense. Ben Trenchard did a superb job on defense in the win, stripping the puck from the Northwestern skaters, and passing it up to pick up a few assists.
The West Haven Mite C hockey team played two games this weekend. On Saturday, the Mite C’s faced Southern CT.
Abby Hemming was in net for West Haven and goals for the Blue Devils were scored by Landon Alling and JP Beebe. Other shots on net were made by Emmett Hemming, Carter Liston, Kiera Harrison and Sara Mastroni. Caleb Ford and Jackson Ford played defense, and also had shots on goal. Abby Hemming made great saves for the Blue Devils.
On Sunday, the Blue Devils faced the Milford Mud Hounds. Multiple goals were scored by Alling, Beebe and Liston. Emmett Hemming and Ford each had a goal during the game.
Excellent hustle and shots on net were displayed by Ford, Mastroni and Harrison. Abby Hemming again was in net for the Blue Devils and made excellent saves.
The West Haven Squirt AA Team played in the Haunted Shootout in Marlborough, MA, and took home the title.
The action kicked off Friday morning against the Providence Hockey Club, with West Haven posting a 14-0 win. Quinn Smith recorded his first shutout of the tournament and with hat tricks were recorded by Colby Cushing and Rocco Kelly.
The Westies had a slow start for the first five minutes, before taking a 5-0 lead after one period on goals by Kelly (2), Stella Porto, Jeremiah McGrath, and Owen Santos.
In the second period, the Westies continued to pour it on with seven more goals with tallies coming from Sophie DiGioia, Kelly, Andrew Lacasee, Dylan Spreyer, Charlie Gunning and two from Cushing. West Haven closed the scoring in the third period with goals coming from Jaxon Troyer and Cushing.
The Westies then faced the Maine Moose Friday evening and posted an 8-0 victory. West Haven stuck to its game plan to get pucks deep and forecheck with persistent pressure. Smith recorded his second shutout of the tournament.
The Westies improved to 3-0 with an 8-0 victory against the Greater New Haven Warriors. Smith recorded his third straight shutout of the tournament and goals were scored by Kelly, Gunning, DiGioia (4), Cody Young, and Peyton Berlepsch.
West Haven entered the cross-over round as the top seed, only to have to face their Connecticut rivals, the fourth-seeded Greater New Haven Warriors again. The Westies again prevailed 10-1.
The Blue Devils led 2-0 at the end of the first period on goals by Andrew Lacasse. With West Haven leading 2-1, Lacasse scored the next two goals and assisted on the fifth by AJ Farrell to stretch the score to 5-1.
The Westies tacked on another five, with goals from Gunning, Troyer, DiGioia (2) and another by Lacasse for the 10-1 victory.
West Haven advanced to the finals against second-seeded Weymouth and took home the title with a 3-1 victory.
Lacasse gave West Haven a 1-0 lead when he beat two defensemen out of the corner and passed to a well-positioned Peyton Berlepsch, who took a quick wrist shot to beat the goalie on his glove side for a 1-0 lead.
The goal by Berlepsch would hold up through the second period as both goalies were solid in net.
Weymouth evened the game early in the third period, banging a rebound home on a third chance to knot the score at one.
With 4:45 left, Lacasse was able to slide a pass over to DiGioia who buried the shot top shelf. Smith turned away a flurry of shots in the last two minutes with a Weymouth empty net, and West Haven secured the championship with 17 seconds left in the game when DiGioia hustled to the puck and came out from behind the net to put the nail in coffin by scoring her second goal of the game.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team advanced to the championship game of the Haunted Shootout in Marlborough, MA but was denied, 2-1, in a hard-fought game against Greater New Haven A.
Goaltender Trevor Cathey was tremendous in net for the Westies in the final game with several clutch saves. His kick save off a turnover and stuff of a power play attempt kept the game scoreless early. Gio Ferrucci won a face-off back to the point where Cam Levy’s shot was redirected by Parker Guarnieri off the post, but he hustled after the rebound and cashed it in giving the Westies a 1-0 lead in the opening period.
Five minutes into the second period GNH tied the contest. Cathey saved a wraparound attempt, but couldn’t stop the rebound shot. The back and forth game remained tied into the third as the defense of Brody Elam, Dylan Bosworth, Levy, Joey DiGioia and Leo Mazuroski held strong.
With just over five minutes remaining, Bosworth’s point shot was redirected by Alex Bowery off the post. Cathey stood tall during a late GNH power play, but the Warriors finally got one to go with 1:36 on the clock.
The Westies then pulled Cathey in the final 30 seconds and skated 6-on-4 after a late penalty. Brady Price fed Sean Studley in the slot, but a defenseman dove to block the shot and the goalie covered it with one second left to seal the win.
Studley led the Blue Devils’ offense in the tournament with nine points (five goals and four assists) while Price led the team with six goals. Mike Page scored four goals, Tanner Walsh had two goals and two assists, while Guarnieri, Ferrucci, Matt Molnar and Zach Melchiore scored a goal apiece. Theo Diakomis and Levy added assists. West Haven outscored their opponents 21-5 in the five games.
West Haven faced top-seeded Genesis (PA) in the semifinals Sunday morning. Cathey posted his second shutout of the tournament, all five defensemen were outstanding, and the top line of Bowery-Price-Studley combined for four goals in the 5-0 win.
The Westies scored 4:35 into the game when Bowery kept in the puck and Studley grabbed it. He slid it to Price for a one-timer. Thirty seconds later Walsh banged home his own bouncing rebound to make it 2-0.
In the second period, Price worked the puck off the boards and found Studley streaking down the slot for a one-timer and a 3-0 lead. Studley opened the third by burying a wrist shot and Bowery capped the scoring when he followed up his initial shot a minute later.
The Blue Devils earned the No. 4 seed by going 2-1-0 in pool play. On Friday afternoon, West Haven opened the tournament with a 6-0 win over North Jersey Avalanche, then trounced Weymouth (MA), 8-1, later Friday night. On Saturday the Westies lost a tight game, 2-1, to Greater New Haven.
In the win over the Avalanche on Friday, Cathey was sharp in goal in posting the team’s first shutout of the season. Page and Price each scored a pair of goals, while Studley added a goal and assist. Bowery and Walsh chipped in with two assists apiece.
In the nightcap on Friday, Price led the offense with a hat trick and an assist. Studley had three assists and a goal. Ferrucci, Page, Molnar and Walsh added goals.
John Kennedy was sharp in between the pipes. In Saturday’s loss, Page scored an unassisted goal while Kennedy was excellent in goal and Cathey solid in relief.