South Windsor High Ice Hockey Opens With Tough Loss to Simsbury

South Windsor High boys ice hockey head coach Neil Rodman found little that he liked in his team’s season-opening 2-1 loss to Simsbury at the International Skating Center of Connecticut on Wednesday evening.

Indeed, when pressed to cite something positive that came out of the game, which featured two CCC North rivals that figure to contend for the conference crown, Roland struggled to find an answer.

“Overall? Not a whole lot,” Rodman said.

Credit the Trojans (1-0) for coming out of the gate strong. Simsbury’s Ryan Carpenter opened the Trojans’ 2012-13 account with a power-play goal off a feed from David Olechna at the 8:33 mark of the first period.

The Bobcats (0-1) struggled to find their footing on offense, frequently sailing their shots high and over the crossbar. When they did find their intended target, Simsbury goalie John Ryan (19 saves) was there to turn away virtually every threat.

“If we were giving out first stars, he’d be the first star selection,” Simsbury head coach Tom Cross said. “He made all the saves he was supposed to make. He was very aggressive handling the puck and he made some really good decisions out there.”

Ryan preserved the early lead by stoning Bobcats’ forward Chris Gionfriddo’s shot off a 2-on-1 break at the 12:05 mark in the first.

Still, South Windsor managed to claw back into the game when Connor Hibbs, stationed in the corner behind the goal, centered the puck, which caromed off Ryan’s skate and into the net to bring the Bobcats level at 1-1 at the 8:47 in the second period. Nick Jones was credited with an assist.

Even with the equalizer, Simsbury looked like the sharper side. The Trojans’ hard work eventually paid off when Patrick Driscoll scored the game-winner off a feed from Hunter Chapman three minutes into the third period.

The 2-1 lead held up, giving Simsbury its first season-opening victory over the Bobcats since 2008.

“We haven’t won our first game in a while,” Cross said. “I thought it was two evenly matched teams. … Great way to start the season. It’s amazing how many games you win when you give up [only] a goal.”

South Windsor goalie Aidan Cain had 22 saves in the loss.

Rodman, for his part, said that his team did not show the energy that it displayed in two scrimmages before the season opened.

“We’ve got to come with a lot more effort than we did tonight,” Rodman said after the game. “We seemed real lethargic and we didn’t seem real enthusiastic about playing and it’s something we’ll have to figure out why that’s happening and go from there.”

South Windsor will have a tough test against Fairfield Prep at home on Saturday, Dec. 15, while Simsbury takes on North Haven on the road, also on Saturday.