The West Haven Youth Hockey Squirt A travel hockey team opened the 2018-19 season against Hamden on Saturday as part of the “Opening Faceoff” event at Edward L. Bennett Rink. Seven different players scored goals and nine skaters had at least one point for the Westies as they defeated the Green Dragons, 10-5.
West Haven opened the scoring 5:44 into the first period when Leo Mazuroski carried into the zone and fed Aiden Guarino. Guarino’s initial shot was saved but he pounded in the rebound for a 1-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, Sean Studley stole the puck in the Hamden high slot and found Ethan Kelly who deked and scored for a 2-0 lead.
West Haven erupted for six goals in the second period to take over the game. Cameren Lipford scored just 21 seconds into the period with Ethan Kelly assisting, before a deflected shot snuck past Westies’ goaltender Maddox LaFountain to make the score 3-1.
Kelly then scored on a tremendous individual effort, weaving through three Hamden defensemen. Kelly fed Studley for a one-timer that was saved, but Lipford gathered the rebound and fired top shelf.
Matthew Kelly scored from the left point off an assist from Mazuroski, Studley fired over the goalie’s shoulder in the slot with Ethan Kelly tallying another assist, and Gavin Coady capped the second period onslaught with a goal in front assisted by Lucas Iversen and Guarino.
Hamden scored a pair of goals to make the score 8-3 in the third period, before Ethan Kelly notched his hat trick by pouncing on the rebound of a Lipford shot. Jonathan Charbonneau scored the Westies’ final goal with a laser from the point.
Ryan Pniewski played well on defense for the Blue Devils and Rafi Treat skated hard on the wing. LaFountain finished with 18 total saves in notching the win in net for West Haven.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team got off to a slow start on the season, losing to Hamden and Central AA this weekend.
On Saturday, the Westies played Hamden as part of the Opening Faceoff and fell to the Green Dragons, 5-3. West Haven trailed, 3-1, rallied to tie the game late, but Hamden scored twice in the final two minutes to top the Westies.
Michael Madera scored all three West Haven goals, while Zach Goetze had three assists in the loss. Bryan Hong and Jacob Silva both played well in goal in the loss.
Hamden took a 1-0 lead 3:24 into the game, before the Westies tied the game with a power play goal by Madera off an assist from Goetze with 4:05 left in the opening period.
Hamden jumped on the Westies quickly with two goals in the first two minutes of the second period for a 3-1 lead, before West Haven cut into the deficit when Goetze set up Madera with 6:57 remaining in the middle period.
West Haven pressured and finally tied the game with 2:53 left in the third when Madera scored off an assist from Martone. The celebration was short-lived as Hamden scored 1:01 later, then added an empty net goal with six seconds to go.
The Westies then played hard, but a valiant effort fell short in a 6-3 loss to Central AA on Sunday. Madera led the scoring with two goals, Mike Page added one goal, and Goetze had two assists. Mickey Dowd added one assist in the loss.
The Westies were hurt by taking eight penalties in the game and trailed 2-0 after one period of play. Madera got the team within 2-1, scoring off an assist from Goetze just 1:17 into the middle period, before Central scored twice in two minutes for a 4-1 lead after two.
Madera, off assists from Goetze and Dowd, and Page scored 2:20 apart in the third period, but two goals by Central in the final 5:35 ended West Haven’s comeback attempt.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team began its season strong against rival Hamden, with a 7-1 victory.
Matt Morgan scored first for the Blue Devils, with Anthony Peschell getting the assist. After a strong first period, the Westies began the second period scoring in the first two minutes, with Peschell scoring, Sean Bosworth and Luca Ubaldi picked up the assists.
Adrian Fielosh scored the next goal just three minutes later, with Joe D’Aurio getting the helper, and Dante Hardt scored the next two goals, both by being in the right place in the right time in front of the net. Hardt’s second goal was quite impressive, knocking it out of mid air with his stick. Cade Simone, D’Aurio, Ubaldi and Morgan all assisted on Hardt’s tallies.
Peschell and Fielsoh scored the next two goals, each of them getting their second goal of the day, with Ubaldi and Morgan getting the assists. Nolan Cole, David Brown, Joey Honcz and Jayden Spreyer all played well in the opening contest of the season. Michael Andreesen and Brendan Smith split time in goal, both making some key saves.
On Sunday, the Westies fought a hard battle and tied the Junior Whalers 3-3 at the SoNo Ice House in Norwalk. Morgan scored two goals with Peschell getting the other.
Penalties hurt the Westies in the second and third periods of the contest. Ryan Bernardi, Mike Alfano, Colin Deane, Justin Pniewski, and Carl Murgo all played hard as forwards in the tied contest. Matt Wezenski was impressive on defense. Smith kept West Haven in its second game of the season, playing a complete game in goal.