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.