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03/19/2014 12:00 AMThe North Haven ice hockey team saw its season come to a close with a 4-2 loss to Hand in the Division II State Tournament quarterfinals at Northford Ice Pavilion on March 14.
The game was scoreless through two periods before the Indians tallied the first goal when senior forward Mike Hribko put one in on an assist from sophomore center John Jensen just 1 minute, 7 seconds into the final frame. However, about a minute later, the Tigers tied it when Ben Solin scored from Dan Braumann and the duo connected again for Solin's go-ahead goal shortly after that. Hand then extended its lead to 3-1 when Braumann scored just 1:30 later. Undaunted, North Haven cut it to 3-2 on Cam Owens's score from Vin Fasulo that was set up by a slap shot from senior defenseman Kyle Van Bramer. However, that was as close as the Indians got as Mike Belliveau scored an empty-net goal to seal Hand's 4-2 victory. Junior assistant captain goalie Andrew Graziano made 29 saves for North Haven and Chase Briggs had 31 for the Tigers.
For No. 5 seed North Haven, it finished at 13-7-3 and returned to postseason prominence in its first year back in Division II. 13th-seeded Hand improved to 12-10 and played East Catholic in the DII semifinals. Amity faced Milford in the other semi.
"We had a few bad turnovers in the neutral zone and some breakdowns in the defensive zone that Hand capitalized on and that's been our Achilles' heel all year," Coach Tom Roche said. "The boys never gave up. They played their hearts out, fought till the end, and still felt they could win it, but we just couldn't sustain a long-term attack and the puck didn't bounce our way.
Earlier in the tournament, North Haven notched a 6-2 win over North Branford in first round action at Northford Ice Pavilion on March 11.
The Indians scored five unanswered goals, including a four-goal third period, to close out the 12th-seeded Thunderbirds (10-11). With the game knotted 2-2 heading into the third period, Coach Roche knew that his team would respond accordingly and North Haven did just that as senior wing Mike Tantorski tallied the goal that gave their team the lead for good.
"I was confident that we could win. I was hoping to get the lead a little earlier, but I was confident the whole time," said Roche. "I think they came out really wanting it in the third period. They just didn't want the season to end."
With the Indians trailing 2-1, junior center Owens scored the game-tying goal with just less than four minutes to go in the second period to shift momentum in favor of the Indians. Senior captain wing Vin Fasulo had possession of the puck along the half-boards and noticed Owens had great position in front of the net. Fasulo threw the puck on goal, it bounced off North Branford goalie Will McEwen's pad, and Owens slapped home the rebound.
"One goal changes everything and that goal changed it for us," Roche said. "It turned everything around and it just put the momentum with us and the boys capitalized on it. It felt good. I felt it and the players felt it. If they could just keep it up, they'll pull way ahead and it showed."
The Indians came out firing in the third and sprayed McEwen with plenty of shots in the opening minutes before finally squeaking one by with 12:13 left to take the lead. On the fourth consecutive faceoff in the offensive zone, a shot was taken off the draw from the right circle and McEwen appeared to make the save. However, after a few seconds of not hearing a whistle blow, Tantorski put his stick on the loose puck, which appeared to be behind McEwen, and poked it into the net to take a 3-2 lead.
"We knew that we had one and we could build off that," said Owens. "From there, we definitely had it in our hands."
Momentum almost shifted back to the T-Birds when Adam Burkle rushed in on Graziano, but the Indians' netminder-who made 25 saves-did everything he could to keep the attempt out of the net.
"Graz came up with a big save in the third that really kept us in it," Roche said. "That could've changed everything. He came up really big there."
With North Branford back on its heels for much of the third, North Haven broke the game open in the final few minutes. Fasulo was the first to hit the back of the net for a 4-2 command.
"The puck squirted to the middle of the ice and I just picked it up," Fasulo said. "The goalie went for the poke-check and I managed to toe-drag around his stick. I waited him out and was able to put it past his glove."
In a desperation move, North Branford pulled its goalie and conceded an empty-net goal to junior wing Tyler Luedee, who burst through the Thunderbirds' defense for a three-goal advantage. Less than a minute later, the Indians put one more in for good measure as sophomore forward Pasquale Liuzzi scored his second goal of the game with 33 seconds remaining and it was all over at 6-2.
"It shows that even tied 2-2 heading into the third, that we could put four home in the third period," Owens said of North Haven's dominant final frame. "Anything can happen. You've got to work hard all three periods."
Liuzzi had opened up the scoring for the Indians about halfway through the first period. He rushed in on the right side and threw a backhanded opportunity on net. It deflected off North Branford's Tanner Opie and was just out of the reach of McEwen to give North Haven a 1-0 lead.
North Branford netted the game's next two goals as Dominic Raccio scored late in the first and Burkle gave the T-Birds a brief lead at 2-1 early in the second.
Assistant Sports Editor Chris Piccirillo contributed to this story