Dragons Down Green Knights 4-1

On Saturday, we took on our friends from Notre-Dame West Haven at their place. The Green Knights have been on fire as of late, and we were aware of this. The new leadership of Martone, Travaglino, and Merola seems to be the key, as they have already clinched a playoff spot.

As for us, we were coming in relatively cold. Fresh off a terrible display of defense in the West Haven game, as well as having to deal with the weather and cancelling LaSalle Academy twice last week, nobody was sure what was going to happen when we faced off.

Nobody but us of course. After working harder than ever on the days we were able to practice this past week, our defensive zone began to take shape early in the game and the forecheck looked flawless. Forwards were finishing hits and crashing the net, and defenseman were stepping up with confidence. After two quick goals thanks to the Lynch-Carignan-Burt trio, Brandon Martone answered with a goal of his own to make the score 2-1. Hoff made it clear that Martone's would be the only goal, as the sophomore played terrifically for the rest of the game, stopping everything else that came his way. 

We weren't done though, as Lynch buried another during the second period, and Connor Walsh sealed the deal with a tip through goaltender Greg Harney's legs off a Harley Pretty shot. Harney played well for the Knights, but there wasn't much more he could have done. 

Though four goals isn't a huge number, it is more than we have been putting in lately. We needed a semi-offensive night like such to get geared up for Prep on Wednesday.

On a separate note, I must wish nifty winger Justin MacGregor a speedy recovery from a bad case of the cold. He played a lot better than he felt, and hopefully he'll be healthy for Wednesday's battle.

West Haven Hangs On For 3-3 Draw

The heated Dragon-Blue Devil rivalry has dated back to way before we were born, so when we geared up for todays game we knew exactly what we were in for.

West Haven struck first with a powerplay goal, one that deflected off a Hamden forward's stick, and Matt Hoff couldn't do anything about it. Regardless, it was a goal, and we found ourselves in a hole early. Nothing unfamiliar though, as Burt and Lynch buried a beauty of a goal after the hard forechecking of Vito Puopolo and Connor "Crash" Walsh. The first period ended all square, but we had a handful of oppurtunities that just didn't go in.

The second period brought a barrage of shots from all involved on our side, but goaltender J.P. Withington wouldn't break. Finally, late in the second, C.J. Carignan found Pat Lynch on the doorstep to break the tie. After two periods, Hamden 2, West Haven 1.

Though it felt like we were dominating the Blue Devils, the score was only 2-1, and to their credit they were playing us perfectly, hanging around to capitalize on our mistakes. If you let a team like the Westies hang around long enough, they will make the most of it. Sure enough, they did, finding lanes to the front of Hoff's cage and making me look silly after every selfish turnover I had.

At the end of regulation, the score was 3-3 and we were headed for our second overtime finish in a row. We continued to pepper Withington, but he was coming up with huge saves and following them up with even bigger saves. Everywhere we shot, he was there. And on the few occasions that he wasn't, there was stone cold red steel ready to make our shooters miserable. The game ended tied at 3, and you already have heard my opinion on ties (refer to Glastonbury Recap).

Sometimes you get unlucky and run into a hot goaltender. If that was the case, Withington was on fire, with nearly 60 saves Saturday afternoon. There is little that we could have done differently from an offensive standpoint. Defensively, things will be gone over and gone over again as we prepare for LaSalle Academy, who comes to the Lou on Wednesday.

In the meantime, come join the Hamden High Girls and Boys Varsity teams as they skate to support Jordan Jacques and his fight against cancer tomorrow, Sunday the 23rd at 4:30 at the Lou Astorino Arena.

Dragons Defeat Lancers 4-3 In Dramatic Fashion

I don't know how it happened. I don't know why it happened. I just know that it happened. Thanks to a last minute scoring binge, we defeated the Lancers in the first few minutes of overtime, as three periods weren't enough for this one.

Things didn't start off right, and continued to go in the wrong direction all the way until the five-minute mark of the third period. Thanks to more penalties and a hot Eric Shugrue of ND, we stared a 2-0 deficit in the face, but said no thank you. The new, calm C.J. Carignan beat Shugrue over his blocker to allow a little hope to shine through. The Lancers quickly returned the favor, and Charlie Zuccarini bested Andy Varga upper glove to regain a two-goal advantage. This is when many thought it was over. I looked up in the stands and saw at least half of the crowd begin to file for the exit. With less than a minute left on the clock, Jim Burt quietly snuck one through the ND goalie's five-hole to make it 3-2. The fans were still on their way out. 9 seconds left now. Burt picks up a stretch pass courtesy of a Carignan faceoff win, and just like that every jaw in attendance dropped. The fans were now making their way back to their seats.

During the few minutes we are allowed to catch our breath in between regulation on overtime, I heard one thing. Coach Jerolman simply said, "Now finish it." Nick Amarone did just that. The one they call "Tricky Nicky" received a pass in the slot from Pat Lynch, twirled it onto the sweet spot of his stick as if he were in his driveway, and put the nail in the coffin. Hamden 4, Notre-Dame Fairfield 3.

A positive attitude is always a must. But there comes a point when you look at the clock, down two goals with just seconds left and recognize that something miraculous would have to happen in order to win. I guess as long as you acknowledge that it can still happen, it just might. A mini-miracle was indeed witnessed.

It was a special night for all involved. Before we faced off against Notre-Dame Fairfield, we honored two very special people to the Connecticut hockey community. First, we recognized the late James "Doc" Sorrentino, father of former standout defenseman Steve Sorrentino. He will be truly missed, as he did so much behind the scenes in the Hamden Hockey community. For Doc, we now sport a "JS" on the back of our helmets, and he certainly had our back tonight regardless of your religious beliefs.

Secondly, Garrett Mendez was in attendance. For his fully story, visit www.garrettmendez.com. Garrett suffered a terrible stroke a few Thanksgivings back and lost most of his motor skills. He persisted though, and tonight was able to skate to center ice to drop the ceremonial faceoff. Garrett is an inspiration to all and we wish him the best of luck as he continues to progress.

We continue or season with undefeated New Canaan on Friday, as long as Mother Nature and Coach V are on the same page.

Xavier Humbles Hamden 4-3

On Tuesday night right before the huge storm, we traveled to Wesleyan to take on Xavier. The past two years, we have knocked Xavier out of the post-season, and it was made clear since the beginning of the season that this was going to be a battle.

With us coming off a big win last Saturday over Prep, and Xavier trying to rebound back from their loss to New Canaan, the boys from X came out storming. Soon enough, our penalty minutes piled up and Xavier picked up their first goal on a 4 on 3 man advantage. They followed with another, as Danny Walsh sped down the right side to beat goaltender Matt Hoff with a backhand. Just like that, selfish acts did us in before we could even get started.

Down 2-0 to begin the second, we fought hard. Brandon Dadio and Jim Burt connected for Jim's first, and later MacGregor found Burt once more a few minutes later on the power play to get back within one of the Falcons. Xavier never seemed to be worried, as they put in two of their own in their own to match ours in the second period, and left the game at 4-2 to begin the third. 

As mentioned in previous games, our penalty kill has been hot, and tonight that didn't change. But one can only take so much. Granted, the penalties were a bit more evenly distributed than they were against Prep, playing almost every third shift a man down is in no way fun. That may be the case for everyone but Patrick Lynch, as he scored his second shorthanded goal in three games thanks to a goaltender miscue by the Falcons. 4-3 with 5 minutes left on the clock. More power play chances were basically handed to us, but the puck would not take that extra bounce over the goal line, as the Xavier goalie came up big all game, and kept the score at 4-3.

Some see nothing fun in losing. Well, that is correct, nothing is fun about it. But when a loss of this type comes at this point in the season, it does more good than you'd think. First off, though we did almost all we could do offensively, we were humbled by a hard-nosed Falcon squad. Secondly, hopefully many players, including myself, will start to value 5 on 5 game play, and in the next few games act in a aggressive, yet controlled manner. 

As we don't take on New Canaan until next Tuesday, much will be done in the coming week. I'm sure some conditioning will occur, and special teams will be reviewed. I also have a feeling some disciplinary actions might take place. 

Until then, stay warm.

Hamden Defeats Top-Ranked Fairfield Prep In Overtime Thriller

After some questions surrounding whether the showdown between Hamden and Fairfield Prep would happen, the game was certainly played, and what a game it was. 

In a matchup of arguably the two best teams in the state, we knew what was at stake. The number 1 Jesuits and number 2 Dragons, as of last week, were to battle for the top spot. The atmosphere was that of a playoff game, and, as one could imagine, the speed of the game did everything but slow down. The first period was a battle, but scoreless at that. As stupid penalties continued to pile up for us, the penalty kill had to come up bigger than ever.

After thorough scouting, we knew Prep's power play was based on one side, what is referred to as the overload. This being said, all week we practiced defending the overload, and Saturday it showed, killing off 8 out of 9 penalties, with their lone powerplay goal coming in a two man down
situation.  

After a foolish penalty taken at the end of the first by freshman defenseman Mike Lee, we began the second a man down. The penalty was killed, but after a hard fought heart of the period, Prep scored after a defensive zone meltdown on our part. (It seems as if I use this line at least once a week, which probably isn't good.) The second period ended with us trailing 1-0, and we took two more selfish penalties courtesy of myself, along with "Tricky Nicky" Amarone, leaving the team to start the final period down two men down.


During the second intermission, there wasn't much to be said. We knew what had to be done. If we were able to kill our second 5 on 3 of the night, momentum would be ours without a doubt. Sure enough, the penalty kill did its job with tremendous thanks to sophmore goalie Matt Hoff. Coach mentioned that good things come to those who worked hard, and in the middle of the two-man advantage, the Jesuits took a penalty that gave us a boost of hope. Now given a powerplay for a little over a minute, Jim Burt picked up an assist as he helped set up a beautiful one timer to knot the game at 1. Shortly thereafter, the Jesuits barked back as they took back the lead with under 10 minutes to go in the game. Down but not out, we needed something to get us going. This something ended up being another chance with a man advantage, and we capitalized. Centerman Clifford Carignan banged home the Dragons' second of the night after a scrum in front of the net thanks to Justin MacGregor's rocket. This may sound confusing as a reader, but this is how the game went. Back and forth, penalty-killing most of the game with a few powerplays for us sprinkled in here and there. 


The game headed to OT, as three periods weren't enough to settle this one. We were exhausted, but thanks to Coach Hallsy's conditioning, we had at least one more shift left. 8 minutes to decide the game, or it was to result in a tie. For some reason, something told me this barn-burner wasn't going to end without a winner. About one minute and 30 seconds into extra time, Hamden's Paul Amarone streaked down the left side of the ice and snuck one through the Farfield goalie's five-hole. The crowd erupted, and just like that we had won. Gritty winger Patrick Lynch, seemingly quoting the Notorious B.I.G., later said, "It was all a dream." Well Patches, it actually happened. 


Thanks to unprecedented intensity, we were able to pull out our biggest win this year. With our powerplay and penalty-kill units close to perfect, we came from behind in one of the most thrilling high school hockey games I was ever part of. 


Tuesday, we take on Xavier on the road, another private-school powerhouse. A tight contest is almost guaranteed.

Dragons Seek Revenge On Indians, Come Out On Top 4-1

This Wednesday evening brought three things to the table at the Ugolik house; high school hockey for my sister and I, the final episode of “24/7”, and most importantly, garbage night. For this reason, tonight’s recap will be short and sweet.

Although we were the home team tonight, we weren’t skating on a familiar fresh sheet of Lou Astorino ice. Instead, we were able to share a special opportunity with our North Haven counterparts. In front of a larger crowd than usual, we skated onto the ice at the beautiful new TD Banknorth Quinnipiac Sports Complex.

We came out slow by Coach’s standards, but I’ll blame it on the difference in depth perception that we’re used to. The place was huge, for lack of better words. After a scoreless 10 minutes or so, Paul Amarone penetrated the North Haven slot and tipped in a low slapshot from the point to take the 1-0 lead on the powerplay, and that is how the first period ended.

In the second, tempo was a bit different for our squad. We came out with a newfound energy, and Paulie A. netted his second of the game by following up on his own rebound to stretch the lead to two. North Haven wasn’t going to be shutout however, as a loose rebound was banged home by an Indian forward, about midway through the game. Momentum was only gone for a few moments though, as Captain Jimmy Burt banged home a beautiful, bittersweet goal thanks to a spectacular individual effort. The bitter part of the play was the fact that his BU Pro-stock stick, courtesy of Hamden’s own Patrick MacGregor, was snapped in half immediately after scoring. You know what that means Pat, I’m sure Jim wouldn’t mind a belated Christmas gift.

The game kept it’s pace through the third, for we knew what could happen if we were to lay back on a team. (See: last year, North Haven defeats Hamden late in OT thriller.) Jim Burt and Pat Lynch made a series of tic-tac-toe passes to seal the deal with our fourth goal, coming shorthanded. Penalty killing was key today, as our minutes in the box were rather high. All involved worked hard, but the most important penalty killer is always the goaltender, and Andrew Varga proved that, keeping the PK at 100% for the evening.

With a final score of 4-1, we were firing, but certainly not on all cylinders. Regardless, as Coach put it, “You found a way to win, and I can’t argue with that.” Practice will be tough the next two days, as many former players, such as once Becker College recruits, Evan Marlow and Kyle Amarone, as well as other pals come to offer their talents, in hopes of improving ours. I definitely think we can continue to come into form after the long holiday layoff, as Prep comes to the Lou this Saturday, a matchup sure to send chills down even the family gerbil’s spine.

Until then, sleep tight. Real men take out the trash.