On Dec. 17, the Guilford Grizzlies boys’ ice hockey team traveled to West Haven for their season opener. Guilford dominated the contest, coming home with a 8-3 victory.

The scoring for the Grizzlies was spread throughout the game, as they scored three goals in the first period, three goals in the second period, and two goals in the third period.

West Haven’s Thomas Porto opened up the scoring at the 12:03 mark in the first period, assisted by Jayden Spreyer and Yousef Ullah. Guilford’s Logan Bertrand evened the contest at the 9:48 mark with an unassisted goal. Thomas Porto, assisted by Brady Price, gave West Haven a 2-1 lead with 4:59 to go in the period. It didn’t take long for the Grizzlies to answer, however, as Logan Bertrand knocked in his second goal of the game with 3:07 remaining, assisted by Nate Ponzio and Leo Hergan. About a minute later, the same trio united for a goal with 2:09 left in period one. This time, Nate Ponzio found the net, with Logan Bertrand and Leo Hergan on the assist. The Grizzlies went into the locker room with a 3-2 lead.

The second period was all about Guilford, as they scored three goals and held West Haven to none. Shane Considine got on the board at the 12:47 mark with a goal assisted by Brady Raffone. Will Petrick recorded a score with 7:57 to go, with Jacob Corso and Brady Raffone credited with the assist. Leo Hergan added on to Guilford’s total at the 3:27 mark, assisted by Sean Melvin.

To start the third period, Guilford had a 6-2 lead. Yousef Ullah closed the gap for the Blue Devils, with a score assisted by Marcus Burrows and Thomas Porto, with 11:19 to go in the game. At the 4:55 mark, Nate Ponzio of Guilford, with Sean Melvin and Gabe Mongelli assisting, gave the Grizzlies a 7-3 lead. Finally, Nate Ponzio capitalized with another goal, this time unassisted, with 3:22 remaining in the affair.

Guilford finished the game with 29 shots on goal, and West Haven had 21. West Haven’s goaltender Kiryl Astrakukh was credited with 21 saves, and Sean McSweet of Guilford was credited with 20 saves. The win handed Guilford a record of 1-0-0 to start the season.

“This was a great effort in game one especially after trailing twice in the first period,” Head Coach Ralph Russo said of his team after the contest. “Players brought great energy offensively. There were typical early season hiccups regarding some decision making, positional play, assignments, etc. but overall, we are really happy that we got a lot of good pucks to the net and were able to capitalize. A good start for many reasons but we have to keep working.”