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03/26/2014 12:00 AMEven in high school hockey, March Madness can occur with state playoff teams making multiple upsets on their way to the finals and Hand boys' ice hockey is the newest bracket buster this year.
Entering the Division II State Tournament as the 13th seed, the Tigers defeated a trio of top-five seeds in No. 4 Newington-Berlin-Manchester, No. 5 North Haven, and top-ranked East Catholic to reach its first state final since 2006-when the Tigers had last won the state championship. Facing conference rival and No. 2 seed Amity in the championship clash on March 21 at Ingalls Rink in New Haven, Hand completed its Cinderella run to the title with a 5-4 victory in front of a raucous crowd as junior Ben Solin netted a hat trick, including the game-winner with 3:15 to play.
"[Senior captain Dan] Healey just gave me a nice pass from the defensive zone and it was 4-on-4 and I had a lot of room so I just decided to throw it on the blue line and see what would happen," said Solin, who also assisted twice. "Every game, people counted us out, but the only people that believed in us were the guys in that locker room. They had our backs and knew what we could accomplish if we tried our hardest."
Solin additionally scored two goals in the first period to aid the Tigers' 3-0 lead after a frame. The Spartans came back and scored four in the second stanza to Hand's one to have the game tied entering the third, yet Solin lit the lamp on an assist from sophomore Jeffrey Rider and the Tigers withstood a late Spartans' charge to come away with their second state championship. Despite his team being outshot 37-30, Tigers' senior goalie Chase Briggs came up clutch with 33 saves.
"This has been the best day of my life, no doubt," said assistant captain Briggs. "We were just determined, dedicated, and we dominated the whole game."
Amity (16-8) started the matchup with some offensive pressure, although Hand (14-10) turned the tide when Solin scored right in front of the net to put the Tigers ahead 1-0 just 3:04 into the evening. Solin didn't stop there as he notched another with 8:31 remaining to give his squad a two-goal cushion. After the Tigers grabbed the first power play by either side, they took advantage when Healey made it 3-0 on a puck he pushed in during a scrum on the crease.
The Spartans wasted little time getting back into the game thanks to junior Kevin Ryan sending one home 16 seconds into the middle period prior to senior Adam Shea getting Amity within one on his score at the 11:15 mark.
"After the first, when we got those goals, we felt good and said we had to come out strong in the second, but Amity is a good team and made it a game," said junior assistant captain Dan Braumann, who had two assists. "After we lost five in a row this year, everyone in the state doubted us. But we came in as the No. 13 seed and were just the dark horse."
It was then sophomore Michael Belliveau's turn to get on the Tigers' scoring sheet 54 seconds later with his goal to again give Hand some breathing room at 4-2. However, Amity then capped off a period in which it won the shot battle 16-8 with scores at the 3:10 and 25.9 (on a power play) junctures from senior Brett McNeil and Ryan, respectively, to draw even at 4 heading to the final frame.
"Amity hung on and that's what killed us. They are a good team that brings a lot of intensity and we sat back. Yet I told them to just keep playing our game and we will prevail," said Head Coach Ken Mitchell. "Everyone wants to point to Dan and Ben, but you can't win without a whole team and defense and our defense has been head and shoulders. We gave up only four goals in the tournament before today, but it's the state championship game and all bets are off. It's just surreal to win this."
In the third, the Tigers were called for their fourth penalty of the contest when Braumann was penalized for tripping at 4:19, but fortunately for them, the Spartans were sent to the box just 26 ticks later to set up a 4-on-4 situation. Solin then took a different approach from his previous pair of tallies by shooting a strike from around the blue line that found its way into the net and locked up the Tigers' first state crown in eight seasons.
"It's great to bring one back for the school and we did it with timely plays, solid defense, and execution when we needed it," said Mitchell. "This is how you want to get it in peaking at the right time and this is the definition of peaking at the right time."
The Tigers were a streaky team all season with a three-game winning streak before a five-game skid. Hand then took four of five matchups before a trio of losses that were followed by three triumphs in its final four regular season games. Most importantly, the team delivered when it mattered most-in the state tournament.
"We communicated with our coach to work out our problems; we were too loose defensively. But we played great defensively tonight and Chase was great so those were the factors," said Solin. "We got hot at the right time. Our defense shut down potent offenses and we found a way to get it done."
Previously in the semifinal round, Hand had another stellar game in its incredible playoff run with a 5-1 victory over top-seeded East Catholic on March 17 at Ingalls Rink. After the Eagles scored 44 seconds in to take a 1-0 edge, the Tigers tallied five straight. Solin notched the equalizer with 12:38 left in the second period before Braumann tacked on another about eight minutes later to make it 2-1. Healey then found the net in the nick of time with 0.5 seconds to go in the frame to put Hand ahead 3-1 after two. In the final stanza, Solin and Braumann each got their second scores of the night to cap off the triumph.
Coach Mitchell was assisted by Eric Braumann and Dave Sagnella. Rounding out the Tigers' championship roster are seniors Max Leveroni, Nathan McCann, Andrew Price, and Matthew Leombruno; juniors Andrew Banasiak, Trevor Paraiso, Andrew Rossi, Connor Bell, Jack Smith, and Kyle Stamp; sophomores Lucas Brown, Rider, Reed Berestecky, and Cole Sarna; plus freshmen Samuel Smith, Ryan Hilton, Shane Kelly, Chase Freiman, Morgan MacKay, Richard Oman, and Mathew Rice.