The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team split a pair of games this weekend and now stands at 9-6-1 overall on the season. The Blue Devils knocked off Watertown A, 7-2, before losing to Greater New Haven A1, 5-3.
On Saturday morning at Edward L. Bennett Rink the Westies took on the Watertown Red Wings and scored four goals in the third period to pull away for the win. Cameren Lipford led the way with four goals while Ethan Kelly scored twice and had two assists.
Down 1-0 early in the game, Lipford scored from behind the net with a ricochet off the goaltender. He later went bar down from the right dot with Kelly assisting and West Haven led 2-1 after one period.
The Wings had a 5-on-3 early in the second until Kelly came out of the box, stole the puck, went to the net, deked and scored. Watertown converted on another power play later in the period and the Westies led 3-2 going into the final period.
Ethan Kelly scored a backhand goal, Lipford redirected a Ryan Pniewski shot, and Lipford then flipped a backhand over the goalie with Sean Studley assisting to break the game open midway through the period. Lucas Iversen capped the scoring with a one-timer in the slot from Kelly. Maddex LaFountain made 14 saves in goal for the Westies.
On Sunday afternoon, the Blue Devils faced the Warriors of Greater New Haven A1 at the Northford Ice Pavilion. Ethan Kelly had two goals and an assist, while Studley added a goal and an assist, but it was not enough as the Westies lost by a pair of goals.
Kelly got West Haven on the scoreboard first when he took Studley’s breakout pass and wristed a shot off the goaltender’s mask and in with four minutes left in the opening period.
With the score tied 1-1, Kelly won the opening faceoff of the second period and rushed the net. His shot was saved and then it dropped between the goalie’s pads and trickled in for a 2-1 lead. The Warriors took a 3-2 lead later in the period before Studley tied the game with 2:49 remaining as he knocked in the loose puck after Kelly’s initial shot was saved.
The Warriors regained the lead just before the period ended and then scored the only goal of the third period to grab the win. LaFountain made 10 saves in the loss for the Westies.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team struggled to score this weekend, scoring just one goal in two games.
The Westies opened the weekend with a 4-1 loss against Darien Saturday morning in Stamford. Brady Price scored the lone West Haven goal, cutting the team’s deficit to 2-1 with 7:18 to go in the second period. Price’s unassisted tally was all the Westies could manage as Darien iced the contest with a goal in the final 4:52 of the contest.
The Westies played host to Simsbury Sunday morning at the Edward L. Bennett Rink and were shutout 7-0.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team came out on top in its only contest of the weekend, winning a tight game by the score of 3-2 over the Stamford Sharks.
On Saturday, the Westies welcomed the Sharks to the Bennett Rink, and after a back and forth start, the Sharks scored first halfway through the opening period.
The Blue Devils scored their first goal to tie the game with five minutes left in the second off an unassisted breakaway goal by Matt Morgan. Luca Ubaldi scored at the beginning of the third to give West Haven the lead, with an assist coming from Anthony Peschell, but the Sharks answered quickly just a minute later.
Morgan scored once again with another unassisted breakaway goal with five minutes left in the third period, which was enough to give West Haven the win.
Michael Andreesen and Brendan Smith split time in goal to preserve the win. Matt Wezenski, Joey Honcz, Sean Bosworth and Kevin Gardner all played well in the win.