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01/31/2023 08:49 AMThe grind of a 20-game high school hockey season can yield many ups and downs and several winning streaks and losing skids. The North Branford boys’ ice hockey team is certainly well aware of that truth, and the T-Birds know a midseason turnaround towards the postseason is right there for their taking.
North Branford finished with a 9-11 overall mark for the regular season a year ago, good enough to qualify for the Division II State Tournament. Once there, the 14th-seeded Thunderbirds took a first-round loss by a 7-4 final at No. 3 seed and eventual state-champion Wethersfield to finish the campaign 9-12 overall.
Through nine contests in their 2022-’23 regular season run, the T-Birds sat with a record of 4-4-1 overall, as the first four losses all came following a 4-0 start. This past week, the T-Birds took a close 4-3 loss to rival Branford on Jan. 25. They then were on the opposite side of that decision, with a 4-3 overtime victory over East Catholic on Jan. 28, to even their mark at 5-5-1 overall. The triumph also snapped North Branford’s six-game winless streak.
Head Coach Ralph Shaw maintained that despite the little skid, the table is still set for the T-Birds to attain their preseason goals–it is up to them to straighten up and fly right toward them.
“Our captains have been great this year; they worked hard all offseason and summer long, then asked to meet with me once school started back up and talked to me about goals for the team,” recalled Shaw. “We want to be in the SCC/SWC Division II Tournament. We need to finish in the top 4 of the conference, and we are still in a good spot to do that. We also want to finish in the top 8 of the Division II rankings for states, so we can get home-ice advantage and we can still attain that. We started 4-0, and we have to get back to playing solid hockey. We have to rechannel and refocus on those goals.”
With regard to those above-mentioned captains, North Branford houses a senior, with a pair of juniors, holding a three-way share of the leadership duties. Aidan Geist is the lone senior captain, serving the T-Birds between the pipes as goaltender, while defensemen Nickie Ryszczyk (injured) and Colin Augur are the junior tandem.
“Aidan is the epitome of a student-athlete. He is sharp in the classroom and worked hard in the offseason. He has really stepped up and has shown great improvement from freshman year to now,” said Shaw. “Colin is a high-energy kid who brings it every day to practice. He picks up the tempo for the guys. I call him the farmer boy; he is a naturally strong kid. Nickie is, unfortunately, out for the year after he tore his quad and dislocated his kneecap. He works so hard and is a tough-nosed guy, and he is our most physical player. It hurts to lose him, but he is ready to go and will get surgery. I only hope the best for him.”
The T-Birds boast a deep junior class, with a whopping total of 11 players out of the 11th grade. Within that class are defender-turned-forward CJ Sherwood, who has nabbed five goals and three assists this winter, alongside his linemate Jack Maley, plus forward Mike Matteo.
“CJ is a dynamic player; he has great moves with a nice release and good shot. He has a lot of hockey sense and commands the other team’s respect,” Coach Shaw said. “Jack did a lot of work in the offseason. He is, as far as the forwards, one of our best guys. His shot is so hard, too. Mike is a hustler who will play both ends of the rink. He is a smart kid, and I respect the hell out of him.”
Within that early-season streak by North Branford, Shaw saw some shining moments after the T-Birds pulled away from Farmington Valley in a 3-1 win on Jan. 3 at home. He was equally impressed with a road triumph over Trumbull, 3-1, on Dec. 17.
“Our biggest game so far was probably against Farmington Valley,” said Shaw. “We took an early lead, then they tied it, and then CJ Sherwood had a great goal with a nice individual effort. Farmington is a tough team, so that was a critical game and win. Trumbull is also a tough team, and we beat them on the road. The first four games were true team efforts and a lot of hard work.”
Versus Branford, the T-Birds’ offense was relentless in the first period, swarming with 20 shots on the Hornets, yet the period closed scoreless. Branford took a penalty early in the second, putting the North Branford power play into action. With offensive zone command, the T-Birds worked a pass from Matteo to Maley, to junior Jake Pedersen at the point, who fired a shot through a crowd and into the back of the Hornets’ net.
Branford responded quickly with a tally to leave the game knotted at 1-1 after two periods. Branford broke the tie just 52 seconds into the third with a goal. Moments later, the Thunderbirds netted another to tie things up again. This one came via a slap shot from junior Connor Stoner off a feed from Sherwood.
The Hornets went up 3-2 mid-period, before North Branford took a penalty deep into the third, putting the T-Birds down a skater. The Hornets took advantage, with a shot and score to go up 4-2. With close to three minutes to play, North Branford took another penalty, this one a hooking call to prevent a breakaway.
With Branford looking to add another, it was Sherwood stealing the puck and scoring a short-handed goal with 2:30 remaining to cut the deficit to one. North Branford pulled Geist (18 saves for the day) to add an extra skater, to increase chances for an equalizer, to no avail.
After a scoreless first frame against East Catholic, the second period opened with the Thunderbirds on a power play, and they took advantage of the situation. Sherwood scored his first of the day, with a nice shot through the legs of the Eagles’ goaltender, with assists going to Augur and Pederson.
Two minutes later, Matteo scored with a shot from the slot, assisted by freshman TJ Connelly. The Eagles called a timeout, which proved successful, as East Catholic scored just 13 seconds later to get within one. The Eagles tied things up at the 11:31 mark of the second, making it 2-2.
Minutes later, Sherwood, with a wrister from the point, made it 3-2 North Branford on a man-up goal, off a face-off win from Maley. The Eagles’ response was immediate, knotting the game again just 19 seconds later to end the second period at 3-3.
In the extra session, hard work favored the T-Birds, with an aggressive backcheck by Pedersen that turned the puck over to Matteo. He fired a shot off the East Catholic goaltender’s left pad directly onto the stick of junior Lucas Vollono, who buried this one for the OT winner.
Shaw and North Branford know they are right there in the thick of it, with a bevy of strong contenders in a competitive Division II. They simply need to get back to that winning formula from December and early January and harness it towards the objective of playing postseason hockey deep into February and March.
“We sputtered a little in those few games after the 4-0 start, but we are in a wide-open Division II, with a lot of teams vying for playoff spots, and we feel we have the potential,” Shaw stated. “I was impressed with our nice start. Yet we need to work hard and work hard for each other. We have to put the work in; we can’t expect to score one goal and ride on that. We showed our potential in the first four games, but we have to understand that if we set a goal, we must attain it.”
Shaw has been the T-Birds’ head coach since 2009. He is assisted on the bench this winter by Ryan Connelly, who has also been with the program since 2009.
The North Branford program roster is made up of seniors in Antonio Nero, Jake Rispoli, Geist; juniors Brady Martinik, Sherwood, Ryszczyk, Connor Stoner, Lucas Vollano, Augur, Matteo, Jake Pedersen, Maley, Aiden Hutchinson, Austin Fruin; sophomore Gregory Galasso; and finally freshmen of TJ Connelly, Massimo Palma, Nico Falcigno, Chico Jara, and Nicholas Maher.