Indians Storm Past Thunderbirds on Senior Night

On his senior night, Troy Raccuia finished his regular season career at home with a 6-2 win against North Branford. Add a hat trick to that for the cherry on top.

In a game that showed a slow start for the Indians (16-2-1) where North Branford got on the board first for a 1-0 lead going into the second period, Raccuia sparked Guilford’s offense with a goal 3:56 into the period. He then scored twice in the third to pad Guilford’s lead against the Thunderbirds, who needed to win out in the regular season in order to qualify for the CIAC state tournament.

Guilford head coach Ralph Russo said all his seniors have been an integral part of the team, and Raccuia has had a “great career.”

“Troy has been a point leader last year, he’s a point leader this year,” Russo said.

The Thunderbirds’ first goal came courtesy of Dylan Podbielski, a power play goal, who skated through the crease and slid the puck past the Indians’ goalie.

To accompany Raccuia’s first goal in the second period, Mike Ring added another with a loose puck in front of the net getting batted around the air, Ring was able to direct it toward North Branford twine. From there, the Indians would not lose a lead to the Thunderbirds again.

“I’m glad we played better in the second and third,” Russo said. “At this point in the season, the guys gotta realize you gotta play three complete periods, especially going into the playoffs if you want to be successful.”

North Branford kept fighting, however, and Thunderbirds head coach Ralph Shaw said that was one positive that came out of this game.

“I was happy with the team as far as the fact we didn’t give up,” Shaw said. “We kept working all period long.”

Ending the second period with a 2-1 deficit, the Thunderbirds appeared very much alive in the game, but a couple of early goals in the third period would send them reeling.

Raccuia tallied his third goal just 32 seconds into the period, and just over a minute later, senior Stephen Petrick added another to widen the gap at 4-1.

The Thunderbirds responded with a goal by Podbielski again, but it was too little, too late, as the Indians put two more in the back of the net to dash playoff hopes for the 4-13 Thunderbirds.

“That’s kind of indicative of the season, so it kind of sent us back down to the real world a bit,” Shaw said. “But gotta give my hats off to these guys, they kept working throughout the period.”

Shaw said the team will finish out the season preparing for the Northern Hockey Conference tournament.

“We got three games left, and I believe at this point we qualify for the Northern Hockey Conference Tournament,” Shaw said. “So I told the guys in here I know we’re disappointed we didn’t fulfill a goal for the team to qualify for the state tournament, but we do still have an opportunity to go to the NHCs and see how we do there.”