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Doyle's Overtime Goal Bails out Guilford Boys' Hockey

An overtime win is supposed to be a triumphant moment, but for the Guilford boys' hockey team, senior Matt Doyle's OT game-winner only brought a loud sigh of relief. Leading 3-1 in the third period, the Indians let Newtown and their emotions get the best of them, forcing Doyle to play the role of savior and giving the Indians a 4-3 victory.

Things looked to be well in hand at the DiLungo Rink at East Haven on Jan. 5 as Guilford mounted a 3-1 third-period lead over the Newtown Nighthawks before things started to get dicey. Two Nighthawk goals later, Guilford (4-1) found itself in overtime, needing one of its seniors to prevent a potentially devastating collapse. Sure enough, Doyle found away, getting the monkey off his team's back for a 4-3 win.

"We have to have our discipline better; we didn't have it all there tonight," Doyle said. "We weren't jelling on all cylinders, we did some things that were questionable, and we just have to be a more disciplined team and that starts in practices and that will carry on into games."

With the momentum of two blowout wins in Maine over the holiday break at their back, the Indians came out fast and aggressive in the opening period. Guilford peppered shots on Newtown goaltender Michael Allwein, but many came from a distance and were turned away. However, when Guilford senior Chris Montesi was sent to the box for tripping at the 5:58 mark, the team's penalty kill got the job done. Just 30 seconds into the kill, senior defenseman Derek Nelson dumped the puck into the Newtown zone. Fellow senior Billy Ring corralled the puck behind the net, sending a centering pass to sophomore forward Jack Fitzgerald, who buried the shorthanded shot for the first of his three goals in the game, giving Guilford a 1-0 lead with 8:28 to play in the first.

"Jack has some great skills. He has some scoring ability and is a really dynamic skater," said Guilford Coach Ralph Russo. "He is only a sophomore and has improved a heck of a lot since his freshman year."

But the Nighthawks found an answer, for despite being outshot 14-4 in the period, junior Chris Erikson dug a puck out from the boards and found junior forward Evan Isaacs in front of the net. Isaacs beat Guilford senior goaltender Chad Faulkner-Filosa for the 1-1 equalizer at the 13:10 mark.

The Indians continued to carry the play in the second period, yet squandered a golden opportunity to light the lamp again when a 5-on-3 penalty of nearly two minutes netted no goals. Guilford not only let a chance to take the lead slip away, but then returned the favor as freshman Matt Horton and Doyle were both sent to the penalty box, giving Newtown an extended 5-on-3 advantage.

"I was one of the people who got a penalty; we just couldn't convert," said Doyle. "Maybe we stayed out there for too long, didn't get a good shift, and just ended up with penalties that shouldn't have happened."

But the penalty kill of Guilford again stood up to the challenge, keeping things knotted at 1-1 through the second period.

"There is definitely some improvement there because we played St. Joe's the first game of the season and they scored three power-play goals. So that was something we definitely wanted to work on and get better at," Russo said.

Then came the hectic third period. Fitzgerald scored his second goal of the game after winning the period's opening face-off and lifting a shot from outside the blue line over the glove of Allwein to give Guilford a 2-1 lead with 14:47 to play. Two minutes later, Fitzgerald capped off his hat trick with another goal assisted by Horton, putting the Indians up 3-1 with 12:39 left.

"We were just trying to keep our heads," Doyle said. "We knew if we worked hard things would go in."

But then Newtown answered again, getting a goal from junior defenseman Tyler Hanley to cut the lead to 3-2 with just over 10 minutes to play. As the game's physicality increased, Guilford committed a penalty that gave Newtown a five-minute power play and the Nighthawks tied the game with just 3.5 seconds left in regulation, sending a Matt Sabia rebound past Faulkner-Filosa, who made nine saves in the game.

"If you are not focused the whole time you leave the door open to not being satisfied with the game," Russo said.

Still, Doyle made sure that his team left with the win. Taking a pass from senior forward Garrett Salkins, Doyle wrapped around the Newtown net and beat Allwein five-hole with a backhanded shot for the win just 2:51 into the extra frame.

"We were more relieved than anything," said Doyle, whose team outshot its opponent 35-11. "It's always nice to have an overtime win, but it wasn't the way we wanted to do it. We wanted to put them away early in the game, but we weren't able to accomplish that."

Guilford was riding high coming into the game following impressive wins in Maine over the holiday break. On Dec. 26, the Indians defeated Portland 9-2, getting goals from Horton (2), Ring, Zach Cattaruzza, Kevin Gauido, Salkins, Ryan Moore, James Mackey, and Batick. Faulkner-Filosa made 12 saves in the win. Then on Dec. 28, Guilford again displayed its goal-scoring ability by beating Westbrook 10-0. Cattaruzza had a hat trick, while the Indians also got goals from Horton, Ring, Doyle, Batick, Salkins, Moore, and Nelson.

At 4-1, comparisons are already being made between this year's Guilford team and the squads of the last two seasons, which both made the state championship contest.

"The last couple years I think we were led a lot by upperclassmen who had a lot of skill and they had drive to do it," Russo said. "I think they have the skill [this year], but I think we are still learning how to play. It is more of a raw bunch; we have the talent, we have to learn to get the chemistry, and play more disciplined."