Goaltender John Galiani Is 'Last Line of Defense' For Fairfield Prep Hockey Team

After surrendering an overtime goal at Hamden on Jan. 8 that he felt he should have stopped, Fairfield Prep goaltender John Galiani has been waiting for another crack at the Green Dragons.

He will get that opportunity on Tuesday, when the teams renew their always intense rivalry at the Wonderland of Ice in a game that was postponed from last week.

"That overtime goal was not a very strong goal that I gave up," Galiani said Monday after the Jesuits' practice. "That's been eating me up for awhile. I've been looking forward to getting back out there against those guys to get some revenge."

Of course, others will say that Galiani couldn't be faulted on the goal as Paul Amarone scored on a blast from inside the left faceoff circle with 1:05 left in overtime to give the Green Dragons a 3-2 victory.

But even if that could be classified as a soft goal, Galiani certainly hasn't allowed many this season, good or bad.

For the season, the senior has given up a mere 10 goals for a goals-against average of 1.15 and a save percentage of .948.

After serving as the backup to Spencer Sodokoff in 2009-10, Galiani has recorded four shutouts this season in his first year as the Jesuits' starter and teammed with Matt Beck for another one.

Since the first Hamden game, Prep (9-2) has posted three consecutive shutouts, outscoring its opponents by a combined 15-0.

Galiani plays in front of a stingy defense that is yielding under 20 shots per game. Still, when he has needed to, he has come up with the key save.

"I just have to make the first stop and (the defense) will take care of the rest," he said. "I'll be sitting back there for five, six minutes without seeing a shot, so my job is easy."

A New York Rangers' fan, Galiani was an admirer of Mike Richter growing up and also watched videotape of Hall of Fame netminder Patrick Roy.

First on skates at the age of four, Galiani turned to goaltending when he was seven because he admitted he wasn't a good enough skater to be a forward.

Galiani has one of the toughest jobs in sports as a goaltender often is the first one to be blamed when a team loses. Still, he enjoys the pressure.

"I really like the whole concept of the last line of defense," he said. "Like when all else fails, they'll look up to you. You can steal a game for your team or you can blow a game for your team. (Goaltending) is just something special in sports that I've really always enjoyed."

Galiani has been accepted to Penn State University, his first college choice, where he will major in communications and pursue a degree in broadcast journalism.

The Nittany Lions are starting a Division I hockey program in 2012, but Galiani is realistic to know that he is  probably not a Division I athlete. He said he will be content to try out for Penn State's Division III club team.

"I made my college decision not based on hockey," he said. "I wanted to make a college decision based on the college. If they had hockey, great. I'll keep playing for fun, but nothing life or death."

Of course, before he heads up to Happy Valley and the land of  '"JoePa",  there is still some business to attend to at Prep, and that is pursuing a state championship.

The Jesuits lost to Hamden 6-5 in last year's Division I title game and may see the Green Dragons again in March.

For now, Prep is about to embark on a busy stretch. After not playing since Jan. 29 due to weather-related postponements, the Jesuits have four games on tap this week.

The Jesuits host Seton Hall Prep on Wednesday and Notre Dame of Fairfield on Saturday. They will then take on Xavier in a rare Sunday game, which will be a makeup of a contest postponed from last Saturday.

"We got our rest and now it's time to go to work," Galiani said.