One of the main goals for Guilford boys’ ice hockey this season was to reach its conference tournament for the first time in four years. Although the Indians were eliminated in their first game of that draw, the good news is that they can now use that setback to ignite a drive toward claiming a state crown at Ingalls Rink.

No. 4 seed Guilford battled top-seeded North Branford n a SWC/SCC Division II Tournament semifinal on March 3 at Bennett Rink in West Haven, with the Thunderbirds prevailing 8-3 to punch their ticket to their first conference final. The Indians grabbed an early 1-0 advantage, but then North Branford took control of the game with five unanswered scores en route the victory.

“I would’ve liked to see a push for more goals after we had the lead, but we had a defensive breakdown to lead to them tying the game up. I thought we had momentum even before our first goal, but after their first score, they were getting more confident. They started to stretch out the game more and we then had to play on our heels for awhile,” said Head Coach Ralph Russo. “This was a disappointing result, but what’s great is that we have states coming up and we can regroup and get back to exciting hockey from earlier this year with promising players.”

Goals for Guilford (13-6-2) came from senior tri-captain forward and 2015-’16 SWC/SCC DII Player of the Year Chris Cafiero, senior forward/defenseman Alex Corso, and freshman forward John DeLucia. Freshman forward Ryall Spencer and junior forward Rick Sandella assisted on the Corso tally. Junior netminder Kyle Dwyer made 24 stops for the Indians as North Branford outshot Guilford by a narrow 32-30 margin.

“North Branford is a great team and they won’t give you extra time to handle the puck. They like to bring their forwards up,” said Russo. “The best way to stop that is to regain puck control and keep the puck around their net and there was just too little of that from us here.”

The Indians grabbed their first goal midway through the opening period when Spencer and Sandella worked to feed the puck to Corso, who went around the back of the net to give Guilford a 1-0 edge 6:23 before intermission. The T-Birds (16-4-1) responded just 2:11 later when Adam Burkle converted off a rebound following a shot from fellow senior Mike Pantera to knot things at 1 after one.

North Branford seized control of the game by scoring twice in span of 2:20 in the second. First, freshman Nick Mancini found the back of the net with 7:41 to play before junior Brian McKee scored swiftly off a draw.

Leading by two going to the third, the T-Birds made it 4-1 with 11:56 to play thanks to junior Scott Clinton notching a goal and then extended to 5-1 with seven minutes left when McKee scored again. The Indians didn’t go quietly, though, as they scored twice in 96 seconds with Cafiero and DeLucia converting to cut their deficit in half at 5-3.

“We got back to playing some good fundamental hockey. We were moving our feet and the puck quickly,” said Russo on his team’s third period effort. “We were making quick, decisive plays and playing around their net, which is what we do best, and we were able to generate some offense from that.”

However, McKee and Burkle later cycled the puck to Clinton with 4:28 remaining to make it 6-3 North Branford. The T-Birds then sealed their trip to the championship game with a goal from McKee 45 seconds later and a score from Clinton 61 seconds before the final horn.

Guilford now gears up for the Division II State Tournament. The 3rd-ranked Indians will host No. 14 Trumbull (7-10-3) at DiLungo Rink in East Haven in the first round at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8. The quarterfinals are on Friday, March 11 and the Indians would face the winner of No. 6 North Haven and No. 11 Hand if they reach that round. The semifinals take place on Monday, March 14 and the final is on Friday, March 18 at Ingalls Rink in New Haven.

“The message to the team is to stick with what got us there and our players should definitely feel confident with what we’ve accomplished so far this season,” said Russo. “We haven’t seen Trumbull this year, but the approach to any team for us is to focus on the things we can do well. When we are tightening our defense, moving the puck, and generating offense, we are a really strong team and can hold clubs off. I want us to hone in on those three things because, with those items, we can challenge anyone.”

From the Sidelines

Guilford and North Branford split two regular season meetings this year with the Indians prevailing 5-1 at home on Jan. 21 and the T-Birds winning 8-5 on Feb. 10.

After defeating Guilford in the conference semis, North Branford went on to top Cheshire 7-4 to win the SCC/SWC Division II title for the first time.

The Indians’ last conference tournament bid came in 2012, when they took a 3-2 loss to Hand in the semis.