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Indians Stay Hot by Notching Two More Victories

The North Haven boys’ ice hockey team continued its strong play of late by adding two more wins to the victory column last week. The Indians earned a 5-3 home win versus Sheehan and then claimed a 6-3 road victory over the Eastern CT Eagles in last week’s contests. North Haven improved to 9-4-3 on the season and is currently the No. 4-ranked team in the Division II standings. The Indians have only lost once in their last 10 games with a record of 6-1-3 during that stretch.

On Feb. 1, North Haven took on a tough Sheehan squad in front of a packed house at Northford Ice Pavilion. Junior Mason Sullivan snapped a 2-2 tie by scoring a goal in the second period for the Indians, who hung on for a 5-3 victory to hand the Titans only their second loss of the year.

North Haven struck first when junior Aaron Racino scored on assists from junior Eli Brubacher and freshman Owen Quick just one minute into the game. Sheehan evened the contest at 1-1, but four minutes later, junior Will Fiore scored an unassisted goal to put the Indians up 2-1 after one.

The Titans tied the game at 2-2 by scoring a goal early in the second period. However, North Haven came back with a goal from Sullivan just three minutes later to take a 3-2 lead that held up at the end of the frame.

The Indians increased their lead to 4-2 when Brubacher scored an unassisted goal with 7:23 left in the third period. Sheehan tightened the game by netting a goal to cut the deficit to 4-3 with just 1:45 remaining. With the outcome hanging in the balance, senior Alan Tancreti scored an empty-net goal in the final minute to seal the 5-3 win for North Haven.

Junior goalie Andrew Sacco turned in an outstanding performance in net for the Indians, especially during the third period. Sacco turned aside several grade-A chances by Sheehan when the Titans were on the power play to help North Haven prevail.

On Feb. 4, North Haven traveled to New London to take on the Eastern CT Eagles at Connecticut College. Racino recorded a hat trick by scoring three goals, while Sullivan netted a pair of goals to lead the Indians to a 6-3 non-conference victory.

The Eagles grabbed a 1-0 lead by netting an early goal, but North Haven answered quickly on a score by Racino with 11 minutes left in the first period. Senior Donny Funaro and Tancreti had the assists on the goal as the Indians knotted the game at 1-1. With time winding down in the period, Racino scored from Brubacher to give North Haven a 2-1 lead with just 2.3 seconds on the clock.

In the second period, North Haven extended its lead to 3-1 when Funaro scored a power-play goal on a wrist shot from the point on assists from sophomore Jake Hines and freshman Tommy Guidone. The Eagles scored a goal to make it 3-2, but the Indians responded with an unassisted power-play goal by Sullivan for a 4-2 advantage after the second.

Sullivan scored again at the 10-minute mark of the third period on an assist from sophomore Nick Tondalo to give North Haven a 5-2 lead. The Eagles didn’t go away quietly, scoring a goal late in the game to trim the deficit to 5-3. However, it wasn’t enough as Racino scored an empty-net goal on a Brubacher assist to get a hat trick and solidify a 6-3 win for the Indians.

Sacco played another fine game in goal by making several key saves to help North Haven get its ninth victory of the season.

North Haven is on an 11-day layoff from game action until its next matchup. The Indians are hosting the Milford co-op on Senior Night at Northford Ice Pavilion on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 5 p.m.