Division III Hockey Final Comes Down to Last Seconds

NEW HAVEN, CT - Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra is often quoted as saying, "It ain't over 'til it's over," and that was certainly the case Saturday morning in the Division III ice hockey finals at Ingalls Rink at Yale University.

Holding a seemingly comfortable three-goal lead with less than 10 minutes to play, the Westhill-Stamford co-op appeared poised to win its first ice hockey championship.

The Staples-Weston-Shelton tri-op had other ideas, however, roaring back with three goals in a 6:40 span, tying the game with 3:03 to play.

Just when it seemed overtime was imminent, Stamford's Nick Rich banged home his third goal of the game with 27 seconds remaining, lifting the Vikings to a 5-4 victory and a state championship.

A goal by Jesse Greenspun and two by Sam New had pulled the Wreckers out of the hole before Rich's last-minute heroics.

SWS grabbed a 1-0 lead just 35 seconds into the contest on a goal by Ryan Johnson, and maintained that advantage into the first intermission.

Chris Clemmenson caught fire for Westhill-Stamford in the second period, scoring twice in a 44-second span to put the Vikings in front. Rich added his first of the game near the midpoint of the session, sending his team to the locker room with a 3-1 advantage.

Rich put Westhill-Stamford in front 4-1 with his second of the game in the fifth minute of the third period, but Greenspun answered less than a minute later to begin the Wreckers' comeback.

Clemmenson had two goals and an assist, while Cooper Healy had three assists for the winners.

Greenspun and Ryan Johnson each had a goal and two assists for SWS.