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.
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