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03/24/2023 11:00 AMSome teams are just destined for greatness. They work hard, dominate the competition, and achieve the one goal they’ve hoped to achieve all season: winning a state championship. This sentiment holds true for the North Haven boys’ ice hockey team, as they claimed the Division II State Championship crown this winter after winning their third-consecutive SCC/SWC Division II title.
On March 21, with a state championship on the line, the Nighthawks faced the Woodstock Academy Centaurs in a fight to the finish. Ultimately, the Nighthawks walked away with a 2-1 overtime (OT) victory.
Nighthawks Head Coach Chris Avena was proud of the way his team showed grit throughout the contest and was able to get the job done.
“It was certainly very closely contested. I think number one and two in the division were on full display,” said Avena. “It was a great game back and forth. We were fortunate enough to get a goal late in the third and even more fortunate to score in overtime. Very exciting, well played game, phenomenal goaltending by both teams, again very fortunate to come out victorious.”
Late in the third period, Tommy Guidone (senior, right-winger) scored a goal, assisted by Will Sullivan (senior, captain, forward) and Alex Petersen (senior, forward) to tie the game at 1-1 and send it to overtime. In the extra session, Petersen scored the championship game-winner, assisted by Guidone and Sullivan, to secure North Haven’s third ever state tournament crown, with the other two coming in 1980 and 2004. This marked the program’s fifth overall appearance in the Division II championship game and second-straight meeting.
“After we scored the tying goal, we knew the game was ours. We went into the locker room for overtime,” said Guidone. “I called the team to the center room, and I said, ‘no one is going to take this from us; let’s prove everyone right and show we are the best team in Division II.’”
More notable players who helped contribute to the victory include senior goaltender Bryce Petersen (35 saves in net), the defensive core, Owen Quick (senior), Joseph “Joey” Taft (senior), Paul “Paulie” Mastriano (freshman), and Jake Donovan (junior).
“They did a great job of locking down a team that scores seven and a half goals a game, so limiting them to one goal is pretty impressive,” said Avena.
Last season, the Nighthawks won the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC) championship and played in the Division II State Final. Unfortunately, the Nighthawks lost to the Wethersfield Eagles by a score of 3-0. Growing on last year’s loss proved to be a large motivator for North Haven this year, and Avena emphasized the importance of this season to the seniors and their desire to finish what they had started a campaign ago.
“I think winning the state title was the ultimate for them. I think it was the great finale for them, and it really topped off a phenomenal career. The senior class has played in every single last game of the year,” said Avena. “If you include the conference tournament, you could not win the conference tournament but win the state title. They have played in every available game to them in their four years. I think that is unbelievably remarkable and a great accomplishment by those guys.”
The full senior class is comprised of Ethan Buck (forward), Guidone, Connor Keaney (forward), Andrew Ohanyan (forward), Alex Petersen, Bryce Petersen, Quick, Sullivan, and Taft. Winning a state title together proved to be a special moment for all nine of those players.
“When we won the game, it was like a weight was lifted off our shoulders,” said Guidone. “The wait was over, we waited a whole year, and we finally secured the win.”
After the game-winning goal in OT, Avena was overjoyed with the way the crowd reacted, celebrating a feat his team had worked so hard for.
“To listen to the building erupt was deafening; there were so many people there, especially pulling for us and being much more of the local team than Woodstock was. A feeling that I could not describe, the feeling of winning it, I would say, is better than I ever imagined it would be,” said Avena. “There was some relief to it; we had been the favorite for two years, and to get one of the two was a huge feeling of relief, accomplishment, proud, euphoria; I think all of those emotions were mixed in.”
North Haven completed the winter with its two championship titles and an overall record of 24-2, finishing on a 12-game win streak. The winning mindset and having the attitude of “how can you do 23-3-3 better?” is something Avena believed pushed his team and kept them locked in on the goal.
“That was the task we thought we had in front of us; all we did, all the kids did was go 24-2, with the same conference title and then a division championship,” said Avena. “I think the whole season itself was very memorable. I do think the two losses in a row were vital and very important to our journey. They certainly propelled us to where we ended up getting to.”
The Nighthawks lost two games just three days apart at the beginning of February, one to the Branford Hornets (3-2) and the other to the Pilgrim RI Patriots co-op team (6-0).
Along the way to prominence, even though the Nighthawks had what could certainly be considered a beyond successful season, handling the pressure of having a target on their backs all winter long was difficult for the players and coaches to adapt to.
“I think we had a lot of challenges this year, being the target, being the number one team in the conference, being the team from the get-go in the division. Handling that as 16, 17, and 18-year-olds, handling that myself, I have never really been under that kind of position before. I don’t think any of the kids have been in that position before,” said Avena. “And then we had some struggles with linemates and playing time, playing the right way, all things that truly needed to get navigated. We navigated the journey, and the kids got on the same page, and when it was game day, we all got on the same page, and we were able to end up doing what we were doing.”
Avena added more by saying that it was not all “turn the key and go”; there was a lot going on behind the scenes of the winning mask.
“They all handled it professionally and with maturity. A lot of times we had candid conversations, then those conversations got put aside and they played hockey,” said Avena. “It is very much a testament to the maturity level of our players and the desire that they wanted to really make sure the state championship was there when the season was over.”
On top of the accolades the team received as a team, several players also received special awards in honor of their accomplishments on the ice.
Quick received All-Conference First Team and SCC/SWC Player of the Year, Guidone received All-Conference Second Team, and Alex Petersen received All-Conference Second Team.
For the SCC Championship game, Alex Petersen was named Most Outstanding Player.
As the Nighthawks send off their senior class and look ahead to next season, Avena hopes the team can carry the same winning mindset that they’ve had the last few years and that some of the underclassmen can help fill the shoes of this special group of seniors.
“I look forward to a new challenge with a core group of kids who were involved in this year and knew what winning was all about, got a taste of winning. Some participated more than others, but those who did not have voiced a desire to continue the winning that we have been doing over the last four or five years,” said Avena. “I am looking forward to that and being young; we are a young team next year. We are not senior-led; we do not have a bunch of upperclassmen. It is going to be a new challenge, a new chapter for our program, and I think winning will still be at the forefront because the core kids returning had a taste of winning and want to be more involved in that winning themselves.”
The Nighthawks roster includes Buck, Guidone, Keaney, Ohanyan, Alex Petersen, Quick, Sullivan, Taft, Donovan, Bryce Petersen, Nolan Cole (junior, forward), Lleyton Geremia (junior, defenseman), Ben Gilbert (junior, forward), Jack Keaney (junior, goaltender), Jaxson O’Brien (junior, defenseman), William Keaney (sophomore, defenseman), Bryce Montabana (sophomore, forward), Logan Ohanyan (sophomore, forward), Christopher Consorte (freshman, forward), Mark Guidone (freshman, forward), Gavin Knauft (freshman, forward), Bryce Mastriano (freshman, forward), Paul Mastriano, and Andrew Porto (freshman, defenseman).