After starting the season with consecutive shut-out victories over North Branford (12-0) and Simsbury (5-0), the Indians have lost their last 6 games in a row. The Indians' latest setback came Saturday night when they dropped a 6-2 decision to Southern Connecticut Conference Division 1 rival, Xavier at the Northford Ice Pavilion. With the road victory, the Falcons improve their record to 7-3 (2-0 against SCC opponents).
According to NHHS Coach Mike Violano, “It’s the same old story. We skated well and shots are about even (22-18 in favor of the Falcons). Even though we lost, I’m proud of my guys. They skated hard, clean, and with intensity for 45 minutes. Xavier scored short-handed and on the power play. When we played 5 on 5, we held our own except for a couple of odd-man rushes where they scored.”
Xavier opened the scoring with 4 minutes, 31 seconds into the first period. Gathering in a feed from teammate Mike Rotondo, senior forward Kurt Johnson came right down the slot and beat Indian goalie Mike Amarone with a soft, back-handed flip into the net. Trevor Buchas’ goal (with help from Brandon Reid) at 8:36 gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
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The Indians finally got onto the scoreboard when Ken Broccoli dug the puck out of a scrum in front of the net, pushed it over to Andrew Babbage, who poked it home at 1:23 of the second period. The score remained 2-1 until the Falcons’ Charlie Dupont rifled home a one-timer from the top of the right face-off circle at 11:21.
Heading into the third period with a 3-1 lead, Xavier quickly put the game out of reach thanks to Dan Walsh’s natural hat trick. He scored a short-handed goal at 3:31, found the net again at 5:51, and added a power play goal from the right face-off circle with 19 seconds left in the game. Johnson picked up assists on Walsh’s first and third goals.
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Outshot 19-11 during the first 2 period, North Haven had a 7-3 advantage in the third session, but all 3 of Xavier shots went into the net. The losers added a power play goal by Nash Garceau (with an assist from Rich Mauri) at 8:59 of the third period.
“Xavier was very aggressive on its power play while our power play was virtually non-existent. Their defense did a good job of clearing the puck away from the front of the net, so there weren’t many rebounds. We did have 3 excellent scoring opportunities early in the third period but just couldn’t connect. Mauri had a break-away bang off the cross bar,” Violano said.
He added, “My guys and I are frustrated. We are working hard and don’t back down to anyone, but we still lose. Somehow we have to find a way to win.”
Amarone and his Falcon counterpart, Austin Essery, each made 16 saves.
