Lyman Hall Co-op Powers Its Way to 1st Ice Hockey Championship

NEW HAVEN, CT — A three-goal outburst in the middle period propelled the Lyman Hall/Haddam-Killingworth/Coginchaug boys ice hockey program to its first state championship, as the Trojans defeated crosstown rival Sheehan 6-2 in the CIAC Division III title matchup Thursday at the Ingalls Rink at Yale University.

LHK capitalized on a pair of power play opportunities, with both man-advantage goals netted by Aidan Weir, during a four-goal run which broke a 1-1 tie and put the game out of reach early in the third period.

The second-seeded Trojans received two goals each from Matt Pettit and tri-captain Kyle Roberts, who also contributed an assist. Jack Roberts also earned an assist on LHK's third goal, which proved to be the eventual game-winner.

Andrew Sacco earned the victory in goal for the Trojans, stopping 33 shots.

"This was such an emotional game for both teams," Trojan coach Rich Minnix said. "You start out the year dreaming about getting here (to Yale), then when it happens and you wind up winning the whole thing. Wow, it seems unreal. We have been building a good foundation with this program and the players put up the walls. It's great. All year long we've been strong on the power play (35 to 40 per cent completion rate) so, when we had the chances tonight, we made good on them."

Devin Napoli and Anthony Romano tallied goals for the Titans, who entered the contest as the No. 4 seed. Napoli, Joey Romano, Luke Festa and Jake Festa each garnered assists for Sheehan.

Story reported by Peter Vander Veer

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