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04/09/2014 12:00 AMHad the East Haven ice hockey team only played against other public schools, the Yellowjackets may have gone undefeated. That's just how good this group of skaters was this season, finishing 17-5 with all five losses coming at the hands of the top private schools around the state, including its 11-1 loss to Notre Dame-Fairfield in the quarterfinals of the Division I State Tournament.
"It's always been my pet peeve where they should have their own private divisions and how ironic that East Haven was undefeated against public schools and our five losses came all to private schools," said East Haven Head Coach Lou Pane. "Hopefully, there's a case being made and, hopefully, CIAC sees the need, like a majority of the high school hockey coaches in Connecticut, that there should be another separate division."
Public versus private aside, East Haven proved one of the best teams in the state this season, beating prominent Division I squads like Hamden, West Haven, Greenwich, and Simsbury with three of those wins coming on the road.
"The one or two games that stand out in my head were beating some storybook programs, such as Hamden 10-4 and West Haven in the tournament 7-2, as well as in the regular season 6-2," Pane said. "To beat the winningest programs in the state is truly an honor, as well as an accomplishment. Those two wins are always some real nice wins. I just can't say enough about the job that we did to do that with the small number of guys that we have. It's really rewarding."
The Yellowjackets were led by their high-flying first line of Matt Longobardi, Tristan Goodwin, and Mike Falanga. The trio combined to score 216 points this season, which was the most of any line in the state.
Falanga led the way with 73 points, followed closely by Longobardi (72), and then Goodwin (71). They were the top three individual point scorers in the state, as well.
"You can't say enough about the job that they did. That first line is why we were a special team. They were a special group of kids and they carried us game in and game out," Pane said. "I've been coaching for 28 years and have been lucky enough to have the luxury of lines like that just a few times. It was definitely one of the top three lines that we've ever had."
The defense, led by Jake DelGuidice, plus the goaltending of Tom DeLucia, held its own to keep East Haven in tight games when the first line trio was held in check.
"I think our defense and our goaltender was steady all year. That allowed us to win some big games," Pane said. "All around, from our goaltender to our defense, we did a nice job all season long and of course our offense was special, but there's no doubt that our goaltender and defense did a great job, as well."
East Haven had a large group of seniors in DeLucia, Tyler Johnson, Dylan Butler (Hobey Baker Award recipient), Brian Dacey, Nick Montesanto, Goodwin (Coaches Award), Corey Smith, Frank Albano, Lou Crisci, DelGuidice, and Longobardi (MVP), and Pane is happy that most of them will pursue more hockey beyond the Yellowjackets.
"The majority of our graduating class is moving on to further their education. A majority of them will play hockey at the next level and that's what it's all about," Pane said. "That's the real winner out of it all is when these guys use our program as a stepping stone and move on and get an education and make something of themselves at the next level. We really pride ourselves on that."
Goodwin and DelGuidice are likely playing at a prep school, Longobardi is going to play for the Hartford Wolfpack Junior A team, and Falanga will forgo his final season at East Haven to pursue an extra year of playing prep and potentially junior hockey. The losses on offense will hurt the Yellowjackets looking ahead to next season, but Pane believes his squad will overcome it with a different style of play.
"Next year, we'll start with a good defensive core as a majority of our defense comes back and we lose our first two lines, but our third and fourth lines I'm sure will step up and do a nice job for us," he said. "I don't think our output offensively will be what it was this year, but we'll play some more close games and play a little bit more of a defensive style."