Ridgefield Boys Hockey Blanks Notre Dame Of Fairfield

Sean Wilkinson helped the Ridgefield boys hockey team rebound from a poor effort against New Canaan.

Wilkinson recorded two goals and an assist Saturday night as the Tigers blanked Notre Dame of Fairfield 5-0 at the Winter Garden Arena.

Ridgefield bounced back from its 6-1 loss against the Rams to beat Notre Dame of Fairfield for a milestone victory against one of the state's top programs.

"This  is the first time beating them and it was nice because we lost earlier in the year on their ice, 5-4," said Ridgefield coach Sean Gallagher, who seemed downright giddy.

The youthful Lancers, who have 11 sophomores in the lineup, dropped to 1-7-1 while Ridgefield improved to 7-3.

Despite outshooting Notre Dame 17-9 in the first period and enjoying five straight minutes of power-play time, including a 5-0n-3, the Tigers were unable to score.

Early in the second, Ridgefield freshman defenseman Henry Gough,  subbing for the injured Danny McMullan,  hustled back to prevent a goal.  An errant back pass during a delayed penalty banked off the boards and headed directly toward the empty Ridgefield net before Gough stopped it.

"Gough (who replaced a concussed McMullan) did a great job all game long for having unexpectedly being thrown into the game," Gallagher said.

Midway through the second, it semed that Wilkinson decided it was time to take over the game. 

"He is a special hockey player who would rather set up his teammates than score a goal," Gallagher said.  "He is not selfish and sees the ice really well." 

With Ridgefield's Hunter Alicea in the penalty box for interference, Wilkinson picked off a faulty Notre Dame pass in his own end and headed up ice. 

"I had in my head  that my coaches tell me not to over stick handle or dangle," Wilkinson said.  "I went wide and their defense was pretty slow and I am fast so when I saw an opening,  I went for it,  cutting to the next and got lucky on the shot." 

His goal was scored unassisted at the 8:25 mark. 

A little more than a minute later,  Wilkinson scored his second goal of the game after taking a pass from Terry Guider just outside the Notre Dame blueline.

He then flew by the lone defenseman and let a quick snap shot go that beat Notre Dame goaltender Eric Sugrue just inside the post on the short side.

Ridgefield's Vinnie Rella scored the third goal, redirecting a pretty pass from Tim Kelly, who fell to his knees while trying to cut to the net. 

Kelly still managed to hit Rella in stride on the other side of the cage for the goal at the 14:25 mark of the second. Ridgefield outshot Notre Dame in the period, 15-11.

In the third period,  Jack Christensen scored Ridgefield's fourth goal at 2:27 on a pretty feed from Wilkinson up ice for Ridgefield's second shorthanded goal of the contest. 

Wilkinson admitted his favorite goal of the night was the one on which he assisted.

"I think of myself as a playmaker and I made a nice pass between the defenders legs," he said.

At that point, Notre Dame called timeout and switched goaltenders to Scott Kline. At the time, Rella was in the penalty box for holding.

Ridgefield scored its final goal at the 11:02 mark of the period when Kelly roofed a shot over Kline's shoulder after missing the same shot seconds before. Ian Ball assisted on Kelly's goal.

Despite tripping over the faceoff circle at center ice as he led the team on to the ice to start the third period,  goaltender Nate Gliedman preserved the shutout by stopping a breakaway with  1:40 left in the game.

Gliedman received some good-natured ribbing from his teammates and coaching staff following his mishap at the start of period.