Many high school hockey teams call the Northford Ice Pavilion home, with North Haven and North Branford being two of them. The two faced off against each other on Jan. 18, with the Nighthawks coming in with a perfect 8-0 record.

North Haven showed dominance in the game, walking away with a 6-1 win.

Despite being outshot by the T-Birds, 13-9, in the first period, North Haven scored three goals, including one with 13 seconds left, to gain a comfortable 3-0 lead heading into the locker room.

North Branford put forth a solid second period, with strong defense, despite having junior captain Nickie Ryszczyk out with a season-ending lower-body injury he sustained a few games earlier.

The second period ended with North Haven adding one goal onto the lead to make it 4-0 by period’s end.

Heading into the third period, the T-Birds were looking for a spark on offense. That spark came five minutes in when Michael Matteo found the net with a one-timer on a feed from CJ Sherwood.

North Branford wasn’t able to add any more points to the board, but the Nighthawks added two more in the third period to close out the game with a 6-1 victory.

Many of the players in the game have been on New Haven Warriors youth hockey teams together, so there was a lot of familiarity on the ice.

On Jan. 21, the T-Birds traveled to East Haven, where they played a back-and-forth contest that resulted in a 1-1 tie.

A fast-paced game from the start saw equal chances at both ends until East Haven’s top goal scorer, Michael Savo, threw one into the T-Bird net with just 41 seconds to go in the first stanza. The Yellowjackets took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

To start the second period, both goaltenders felt the pressure. Aidan Geist for North Branford made nine saves in the period (of 32 total in the game). East Haven’s Jon-Paul Garea made some good saves until CJ Sherwood weaved his way through the Yellowjackets’ defense and scored a goal on his own shot’s rebound. The assist was credited to freshman Chico Jara.

The teams headed to the third period with a 1-1 tie that was maintained through the end of regulation. East Haven was put on the power play toward the end of the period, but North Branford was able to kill the penalty.

The game moved into an eight-minute sudden-death overtime period, still resulting in no goals. The T-Birds recorded nine shots in the overtime session.

The T-Birds will next face Branford on the road on Jan. 25 (after press time), followed by East Catholic on Jan. 28.