Enfield, Tri-Town Co-ops Have Their Eyes On the Prize

ENFIELD, CT — Heading into the CIAC Division III boys ice hockey semifinals Tuesday at the Ingalls Rink at Yale University, two teams could not seem to be any more evenly matched than second-seeded Enfield/East Granby and No. 3 Tri-Town.

• The northern Connecticut rivals, who each play their home games at the Enfield Twin Rinks, wound up the 2017-18 regular season with identical 12-7-1 records.
• They faced each other twice during the year, with Tri-Town prevailing 3-2 in overtime on Jan. 15 and the Eagles exacting revenge with a 5-2 win on Feb. 23.
• Enfield/East Granby scored 72 goals during the regular season; Tri-Town had 71.
• Each team has 10 upperclassmen on its roster.
• Each team had a pair of two-game losing streaks during the year.

Differences finally start to appear when it comes to coaching. Frank Genovese is nearing completion of his 16th season behind the Enfield (and previously, Fermi) bench, while Tri-Town head coach Kyle Fijalkowski, a 2005 Enfield High School graduate, is in his first year at the helm.

Similarity time again - prior to this season, Fijalkowski spent the previous three campaigns as Genovese's assistant coach.

"He’s done a great job - he stepped right in as a new head coach and is going to Yale in his first year," Genovese said of his protegé. "It’s going to be a special game, having had him with us the past three years.”

The Eagles made the semifinals by defeating BCR 5-3 and WMRP 2-1. Tri-Town, comprised of players from Ellington, Somers and East Windsor high schools, had a much easier road, blowing past Wilton 11-1 and topping the Lyman Hall co-op 5-1.

“Enfield is a great team,” Fijalkowski said. “They play incredible team defense and have four or five seniors on the front line that can really shoot and work hard in the offensive zone. We’ll have to continue to close them up and battle with them.”

The teams square off at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Staples/Eastern CT Eagles semifinal at 7:30. The winners meet in the championship game Saturday at 10 a.m., also at Yale.

Photo credit: Kerri Albano