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03/06/2015 11:00 PMThe North Haven ice hockey team used a stellar second half of the regular season to give itself a chance to reach the SCC/SWC Division II Tournament, which the Indians did by way of their 3-3 versus Milford and a 2-2 stalemate with Milford last week. North Haven then faced off against Branford again just five days later in the conference semis, but took a 4-1 defeat at Northford Ice Pavilion on March 6.
Coach Mike Silengo felt his team started sluggishly in all three games and, although the Indians were able to recover in time to earn ties in their first two contests, that wasn’t the case in the rematch against Branford, which went on to blank New Milford for its second straight conference crown.
“We came out flat and really didn’t have too much energy, which is very hard to figure out, and it was similar in our game against Milford, where we went down 2-0 and had to scrap back to get a tie out of it,” said Silengo, whose team stood at 9-7-5 and was preparing for the DII State Tournament at week’s end. “At this time of the season, you have to do whatever you have to do to win and we don’t seem to be putting a full three periods together.”
Branford scored the game’s first four goals with one in the first period, two in the second, and one in the third. Sophomore Mike Gambardella then netted his first career score to put North Haven on the board. Senior assistant captain Andrew Graziano made 30 saves on 34 shots for the Indians.
“They jumped on us early and we have a tendency where, if we go down a goal, we have a tough time fighting back. We’re a much better team when we score first, but that’s something we have to get out of our head quick. Once you get to states, one bad game and you’re going home,” Silengo said. “It has to be a full team effort from everyone from this point on. You can’t even take one shift off. Everyone has to give 100 percent.”
North Haven had qualified for the SCC/SWC DII Tournament by earning a 2-2 tie at Milford on March 4. The Indians trailed Milford 2-0 entering the third period before junior Jason St. Peter scored from senior Tyler Krol 1:09 into the frame, followed by senior Tyler Luedee’s equalizer from junior and fellow assistant captain Josh Back and freshman CJ Kenny at the 2:35 mark. Kenney’s assist marked the first point of his career. Graziano made 31 saves for North Haven.
“[The third period comeback] came down to the leaders on the team. They told the younger guys that now’s the time to turn it on and it was almost too late. We should have already been in playoff mode,” Silengo said. “The team was excited and the coaching staff was not [with making the conference tournament via a tie]. They were happy to get there, but we just can’t settle for mediocrity. We have to do better than this. You can’t just turn it on and win games. You have to play solid all the way through.”
Two days before that, the Indians played Branford to a 3-3 at Northford Ice Pavilion, again rallying from two-goal deficit in the third. Senior captain Cam Owens scored from Luedee and junior John Jensen in the second period, although North Haven was still down 3-1 through two. However, Owens scored from Jensen and Luedee with 4:15 left in the game and then Luedee tied it with just 1:13 to play. Owens had a penalty shot in overtime, but Branford’s AJ Brink made the save. Graziano had another exceptional game in net for the Indians by making 47 saves on the 50 shots Branford put on him. This tie put the Indians’ final conference record at 5-2-3 for the season.
“We bounced back a little quicker in this game,” said Silengo. “The team started to get it going toward the end of the first period, played better in the second period, and then played much better in the third period.”
With the SCC/SWC Division II Tournament now in the books, North Haven looks ahead to the DII State Tournament. The Indians are the No. 8 seed in the Division II State Tournament and will host Cheshire at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10. A win there would put North Haven in the quarterfinals with a game either at Conard or home for Rockville-Coventry-Bolton-RHAM on Friday, March 13. The semis are at Ingalls Rink in New Haven on Monday, March 16 and the four squads the Indians could face in that matchup are North Branford, Wilton, Guilford, and Newington-Berlin-Manchester. Division rivals Branford, East Haven, Hand, and New Milford are on the other side of the bracket. The championship game is also at Ingalls at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 20.
Coach Silengo feels glad about how his squad battled back from its slow start to make both postseason brackets this season and, despite his team’s loss in the conference bracket, he remains confident that the Indians can make a run at the state crown if they bring a maximum effort the ice every night.
“If we come out with energy and continue with it through the game, we could be as good as anybody. If it’s any less than that, we could be in trouble,” he said. “It’s there for the taking. The Division II bracket is evenly split and no one team is much better than the other. I honestly think that whoever gives a full effort and is prepared to play a 45-minute game will come out on top and that is our goal. I’m very proud of this team. They’ve fought through a lot. But it has to be an entire team effort or we’ll be packing our bags and that holds true for every team.”