Northwest Catholic to Play for First State Hockey Championship

NEW HAVEN, CT — Most teams that get outshot by nearly a 2-to-1 margin have difficulty winning hockey games. However, Northwest Catholic made the most of its limited opportunities in the Division I semifinals Friday, and earned a trip to the state championship game in the process.

Second-seeded New Canaan held a 36-19 advantage in shots on goal, but the top-seeded Lions converted nearly a third of their chances, posting a 6-3 victory at the Ingalls Rink at Yale University.

Northwest Catholic will play for its first state championship Monday at 7 p.m. at Yale against No. 2 Ridgefield, a 5-1 winner over sixth-seeded West Haven.

Anthony Ceolin got the Lions on the board just 18 seconds into the contest, but Gunnar Granito tied it for the Rams just past the four minute mark. Ryan Sherba and Ceolin tallied goals 11 seconds apart late in the first period to stake Northwest Catholic to a 3-1 lead.

Sherba netted his second goal of the game nearly five minutes into the middle session for a 4-1 lead, but Brooks Gamill cut it to 4-2 a minute later. Brennan Horn restored the Lions' three-goal advantage at 9:26, but Tyler Hill retaliated for New Canaan to make it 5-3 just over two minutes later.

Paul Arel scored what proved to be the game's final goal with 1:33 left in the second period, providing the Lions a 6-3 margin at the second intermission.

New Canaan totally dominated the third period, outshooting the Lions by a 15-1 count, but could not beat goaltender Cal Skwara, who finished with 33 saves.

Patch file photo