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posted 03/10/2010 Exciting Connecticut State Tournament action this weekend. See the results below or visit
www.northwesternhockey.com for full details.
Girls U12 CGHL Tournament
Girls U12 - 3 Shoreline Sharks - 3
Northwestern Girls U12 started there CGHL tournament with determination. All 16 players were in East Haven late Friday night; they had to play a strong Shoreline shark team. From the drop of the puck, the team skated well. Each team managed one goal each period ending with a 3 to 3 tie. The coaches told the team that they played one of there strongest games yet. Each and every skater touched the puck in a positive way. Julia Malsin scored assisted by Emma Colesworthy. Mackenzie Bokina netted a break away. Cameron Long was responsible for the third goal, and it was pretty. Cameron may be out sized, but she does not even notice, she displayed a wrap around move that had every fan on there feet in applause. Margaret O’Connell, Kirsten Behney and Ally Helmus fought tough on the boards taking the puck back from the sharks. Clare Costello, Alyssa Malsin and Shannon Maxey passed the puck well. The defense was solid. Brooke Landry, Gillian Schullery, Madison Corso, Anna Vailionis, and Meghan Maxey were rotated on and off quickly. The defense fought in the corners and put the puck back out of our zone repeatedly. The sharks got off a total of 20 shots, and goalie Emma Reynolds denied 17 of them. She was great; Emma looked like she’s been doing this for years instead of months. She used her glove, her blocker, and her pads like a pro.
Girls U12 - 6 Ridgefield - 0
The Northwestern Girls U12 came out flat for the first period. The coaches were a bit nervous. But the second and third periods were a whole different story. Four goals were scored in the second period, Emma Colesworthy and Ally Helmus netted goals unassisted, Kirsten Behney from Mackenzie Bokina, and Cameron Long from Madison Corso. In the third period goals were scored by Julia Malsin from Emma Colesworthy and by Mackenzie Bokina unassisted. Alyssa Malsin, Shannon Maxey, Clare Costello, and Margaret O'Connell played well through the neutral zone. The defense was strong - Anna Valionis, Madison Corso and Brooke Landry took pucks to goal and almost scored. Meghan Maxey and Gillian Scullery were tough holding the blue line. Shutting out the Ridgefield shooters, Emma Reynolds tallied 13 saves.
Girls U12 - 4 Wallingford U12 - 2
The offensive line of Mackenzie Bokina, Ally Helmus, and Shannon Maxey combined for three of our four goals. Emma Colesworthy assisted Helmus as well. Emma Reynolds played tough in goal, she held onto the puck even though the hawks kept poking at her. She had 16 saves. The defense stepped it up in an effort to protect Reynolds. Brooke Landry, Anna Vailionis, Meghan Maxey, Gillian Schulley and Madison Corso all played well.
Girls U12 - 1 Shoreline Sharks - 4
Making it into the Championship game, Northwestern's Girls U12 team had to settle themselves and play hard. The sharks had a track record of winning, but we had tied them in the early first round of the tournament. The drop of the puck and the first few minutes it was all sharks, they jumped to a quick 2 to 0 lead. Northwestern was not yet done for the night, they found the strength and quickness to sway the game back to almost even. Emma Colesworthy, Ally Helmus, Julia Malsin and Mackenzie Bokina were very active handling the puck. Playing tough through the neutral zone was Margaret O'Connell, Alyssa Malsin, Clare Costello, Kirsten Behney, Shannon Maxey and Cameron Long. Skating forward from defense and getting shots on goal were Brooke Landry, Anna Vailionis and Madison Corso. Meghan Maxey and Gillian Schullery tied up sharks in from of the net taking away any chance at rebounds. The scorer did not record saves, but Emma Reynolds had a bunch, she has taken over the job of goalie and really helped her team to advance. The game ended with the sharks ahead 4 to 1, so the Northwetsrn girls all came home with second place trophys. Great season girls, see you all again in the fall.
Squirt A - Tier 3B Connecticut State Tournament
Squirt A - 4 Southeastern Seahawks A - 2
The Ice Hawks first State Tournament game was against a strong Southeastern Seahawks, who have battled the Ice Hawks for the fourth seed all season. The Seahawks struck first only two minutes in the game. The determined Ice Hawks answered back with two goals in the second period from Alex Hess and Nate Capriglione, with Destiny Claxton providing the assist on the second goal. Joe Pizzo padded the lead with a goal in the third period assisted by Taylor Ettore, but the Seahawks continued to work hard and narrowed the gap with 5 minutes left, making the score 3-2. Griffin Smith, fed by Pizzo, sealed the game with an open net goal with 48 seconds left. Ben Berg finished the game with 5 saves in the 4-2 win.
Squirt A - 7 Greater New Haven Warriors A1 - 1
The second State Tournament game for the Ice Hawks was against the Greater New Haven Warriors. The Ice Hawks hit the ice flying, with four first period goals. Hunter Colburn started the scoring followed by two goals from Nate Capriglione and one by Griffin Smith. Tabor Wanag, Jonah Lavigne, Jack Hannan and Nate Capriglione provided the assists. The Warriors scored their one and only goal in the first period. In the second period, Jack Hannan scored from an assist by Hunter Colburn. The Ice Hawks finished their domination with two more goals in the third period from Wanag and Hannan, with Colburn providing the assist. Ben Berg finished the game with 4 saves in the 7-1 win.
Squirt A - 2 Wallingford Hawks A - 2
Joe Pizzo struck first for the Ice Hawks less than thirty seconds into the first period scoring what would prove to be the critical goal in deciding who ended up with the number one seed in the State Tournament. Wallingford scored with a minute left in the first period to tie the game up 1 to 1. In the second period the Wallingford Hawks scored again to take a 2 to 1 lead. The Ice Hawks dug deep and scored a minute later with a goal by Nate Capriglione, assisted by Jack Hannan and Joe Pizzo. The remainder of the game was a scoreless battle, which ended in a 2 to 2 tie. Both teams had two wins entering the game, which forced the tournament officials to review the tie breaking rules to see who would be the number one seed. Not until they reached the fifth tie breaker -- which team scored first -- did the Ice Hawks erupt in excitement. Joe Pizzo's initial goal was the deciding factor. Ben Berg played an outstanding game and finished with 11 saves in the 2-2 tie.
Squirt A - 2 Hamden Dragons A - 1
The Ice Hawks entered the semi-finals the underdog. They were now in the position to face the number two and three teams in their league. The first game was against the Hamden Dragons. During the season the Dragons out-scored the Ice Hawks 12 – 3. If the Ice Hawks wanted to win, every player on the team would need to bring their best game. They did not disappoint. The Ice Hawks opened the scoring with 2:30 minutes left in the first period. Jack Hannan took the puck down and put it past the Dragon goalie. The next goal would be by the Dragons at the 11:35 mark of the third period to tie the game. At the end of regulation, the game was tied 1-1. Now in this David vs Goliath match up, it came down to who would score next and move on to the Championship game. The teams battled through two six-minute overtime periods with no one scoring. Two minutes into the third overtime session, the Ice Hawks moved into the Dragon zone, where Jack Hannan found Nate Capriglione low in the zone. Capriglione moved from the corner around the net and passed to a wide-open Griffin Smith, who with pin-point accuracy, put the puck past the Dragon goalie and gave the Ice Hawks the 2 to 1 win in triple overtime. Ben Berg was amazing in goal for the Ice Hawks shutting the Dragon down 22 times and helping the team reach the championship game.
Squirt A - 1 Yale A - 0
From the first drop of the puck, both teams gave it everything they had. The game went back and forth for three periods with no score, despite numerous shots and a few scrums in front of both nets. But the goalies on both teams were outstanding. Finally with time winding down in the third period, Jack Hannan picked the puck up with 8 seconds left, blew by the Yale defense, cut to the front of the net, and found the opening to score the game wining goal with 4.8 seconds left.
Bantam A - Tier 3A Connecticut State Tournament
Geary’s Plumbing Bantam A - 3 South Windsor A - 1
The Northwestern Bantam A’s entered the Tier 3A tournament as the #4 seed opening up play against #5 South Windsor A. In the last minute of the 1st period South Windsor got on the board first. Northwestern fought back and tied the score at the end of the second off an unassisted goal by Lorenzo Stellato. In the third period, Cole Case got a great pass from Christian Stuart and scored by flipping one by the goalie. With 8 seconds left, Tyler Kirkwood put South Windsor away with a goal off a tip back from Patrick Hess. The defense of John Jones and Joey Hicks along with goalie CJ Petruska was strong in this game holding their opponents to one goal.
Geary’s Plumbing Bantam A - 4 Greater Bridgeport A - 4
In game two, Northwestern faced #8 Greater Bridgeport. This was a back and forth game with seven lead changes! Once again, Lorenzo Stellato scored a goal off a pass from Jonathan Manzer with 8 seconds remaining in the first period. This would prove to be very important later in the day. In the second period, Joey Hicks scored a power play goal and Tommy Barkal also added a goal. Jonathan Manzer notched 2 assists along with single ones from Tyler Kirkwood and Patrick Hess. Northwestern then gave up 2 short handed goals and the score was tied up. Kevin Monagan scored a goal early in the third only to have Bridgeport come back with a goal late in the period to tie the game. Stellato and Greg Valentine did their best to keep Bridgeport away from goalie Zach Sibert.
Geary’s Plumbing Bantam A - 0 Wonderland Wizards A1 - 8
The second game of the day was against the #1 seed Wonderland Wizards. Northwestern found themselves down 3 men, so many people stepped up to play different positions. All of the challenges proved to be too much to overcome and Northwestern had no answer for the Wizards fire power. CJ Petruska did his best in goal to keep the game under control. Christian Stuart and Tommy Barkal both did a great job of stepping up and playing defense.
Geary’s Plumbing Bantam A - 4 Southern A1 - 2
After thinking they were out of the tournament Northwestern found they were moving on to the Semi Final game via the 6th tie breaker rule. Stellato’s goal in the first period of the Greater Bridgeport game was what was needed to move on. Northwestern faced #2 Southern A1 in the Semi Finals. By the end of the second period Northwestern was up 2-0 off a pair of goals by Patrick Hess with assists from Lorenzo Stellato, Tommy Barkal and Tyler Kirkwood. The third period was exciting with a total of 4 goals being scored. Southern got 2 power play goals and Northwestern added an unassisted goal by Jonathan Manzer. With 1 min remaining in the game and Southern’s goalie on the bench Kirkwood tipped the puck out into the opponents zone so Barkal could chase it down for an open net goal putting the game away. Goalie Zach Sibert was solid in net.
Geary’s Plumbing Bantam A - 3 Wonderland Wizards A1 - 2
Northwestern was now bound for the finals and a rematch with the Wizards with nothing to lose and everything to gain. The Ice Hawks came out strong scoring twice in the first period. On the power play, Blaine McMahon scored a goal and got his team on the board assisted by Jonathan Manzer and Kevin Monagan. Later in the period, Patrick Hess was in the right place to put away a loose rebound and make the score 2-0. Joey Hicks and Christian Stuart assisted on the score. In the second, Manzer put Northwestern up 3-0 on an unassisted power play goal. The Wizards came out strong in the third scoring 2 goals in the first 5 minutes. But the Ice Hawks didn’t back down. They continued to work hard even fighting off two Wizards power plays. When the final buzzer sounded, both teams were stunned. The Ice Hawks had knocked off the #1 seed, a great accomplishment but always a possibility in the Ice Hawks minds. During the regular season, the Wizards recorded only 1 loss and 2 ties, with the Ice Hawks claiming one of those ties. Zach Sibert came up big in goal along with the defense of Lorenzo Stellato and Joey Hicks. Teammates Noah Williams and Tyler Smith missed the games with injuries but were on the bench as the teams #1 supporters! The Northwestern Bantam A team is now preparing for the opportunity to play in the New England Tier 3 Sectionals March 19th. They will face teams from NY, Mass, Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont.
In other regular season action at Northwestern Hockey:
Mite B - 4 Greenwich Skate Club Mite B - 3
In our "Outdoor Classic" final game of the season at the Greenwich Skate Club our Mites pulled off the win in a back and forth nail bitter under the 50 degree sun. Cody Wilson led the scoring with 2 goals and 1 assist including the winning goal with just over 4 minutes left. The other goals were from Matthew Hassiak and Sean DeSantis scoring his first of the season. Also assisting was Hunter Kolpak. Kevin Costello and Emily Sanford played a strong game while Ben Marano had the win in goal.
