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03/17/2018 12:00 AMPlaying in its second state final in as many seasons, the Guilford boys’ ice hockey team wasn’t able to come away with the gold this time around. However, the Indians still put together another championship-caliber season that they can feel proud about this winter.
The 3rd-seeded Indians came into their second straight Division II State Tournament final as the defending champions and had won their last 12 games. Along the way, they repeated as SCC/SWC Division II Tournament champions and broke the program record for wins in a season with 22 after posting 21 victories last year.
However, in this year’s state championship clash, Guilford’s bid to take its second consecutive title was denied by top-seeded Farmington Valley-Avon-Lewis Mills, which prevailed by a 7-3 score at Ingalls Rink in New Haven on March 16. The Generals led the entire game and had built up a commanding 7-0 advantage by late in the second period on their way to winning their first state title with a record of 21-1-2. Guilford scored the last three goals of the contest and finished its season with an overall record of 22-4.
“They were just very fast and quicker to the puck than us,” Indians’ Head Coach Ralph Russo said of Farmington Valley. “They also made the most of their chances, and it was all a deadly combination to battle against. They had everything working for them.”
Each member of Guilford’s top line consisting of junior All-State First Team honoree Jack Ring, sophomore Jack Dacey, and junior co-captain and All-State First Team selection John DeLucia scored a goal in the game. DeLucia finished the night with two assists, while Dacey and Ring each had an assist, as did senior co-captain defenseman Joe Neleber, an All-State Second Team selection. Farmington Valley outshot Guilford 35-15 with senior goalie Mete Yanbul making 28 saves in net.
Additionally, assistant coach Bill Graves was named the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year for the Indians, who completed a tremendous two-year stretch that featured 43 wins, two conference titles, two state final appearances, and a state championship.
“What we’ve done the last two years is a credit to their competitiveness,” Coach Russo said. “They also have had good chemistry, and we were thankful to have high-scoring lines each of the last two years. We also had a solid defense both seasons. A big question mark going into this year was the goalkeeping position, but we were able to make that work this year.”
Guilford and Farmington Valley were scoreless for the first 11 minutes and 16 seconds of their meeting in the Division II state final, but then the Generals broke through with a goal to take a 1-0 lead. The Generals made it 2-0 by netting a goal with 26 seconds remaining in an opening period that saw them outshoot Guilford 16-3.
In the second period, Farmington increased its lead to 7-0 by striking for five goals in the frame. The Generals made it 3-0 by scoring 4:46 into the period and then scored four more goals during the next seven minutes to take a seven-goal lead.
“We had some chances early in the game, but we just didn’t convert on them,” Russo said. “It was tough to come back from that second period. Farmington played tough defense to limit second and third chances by us, so we had a lot of one-time chances, and it made the whole difference.”
Guilford got on the scoreboard with 1:18 left in the second period, when Neleber found DeLucia, who put one past the Generals’ goalkeeper to stop the shutout.
In the third period, DeLucia and Dacey assisted line-mate Ring for Guilford’s second goal of the night that made it 7-2 with 6:34 to play in the game. With 1:50 remaining, Dacey scored a goal on assists from Ring and DeLucia for the 7-3 final.
Previously, in the semifinals, the Indians defeated No. 2 seed Watertown-Pomperaug 2-1 at Ingalls Rink on March 12 to punch their ticket to the championship game. The two squads had recently squared off for the SCC/SWC Division II Tournament title on March 3, with Guilford winning 3-2.
In the state semis, Guilford trailed 1-0 entering the third period despite outshooting Watertown-Pomperaug 20-2 in the second. However, the Indians went up 2-1 thanks to a pair of goals from Ring, who tied the game on a power-play score with 13:31 remaining in the third period and then scored the game-winner with 9:32 to play. The Indians outshot Watertown-Pomperaug by a wide 34-18 margin.
“It’s tough to beat a team three times in a season, and it was tough against them,” said Russo, whose team also defeated Watertown-Pomperaug during the regular season. “We were down 1-0 after the first, and they outshot us. We outplayed and outshot them in the second and turned our play around, but we were still in the same situation of being down 1-0. We were fortunate to have Jack make two shots. It was an exciting comeback to get us back to the finals and give us a chance at another title, but the challenge now will be for us to rebuild for next year to put us in the same position.”
From the Sidelines
The Guilford boys’ ice hockey team’s varsity roster is comprised of senior captain Joe Neleber; fellow seniors Will Boender, Tom Cattaneo, Lucas Napolitano, Luke Faulkner-Filosa, and Mete Yanbul; juniors captain John DeLucia; fellow juniors James Petritz, Jack Ring, Jake Watrous, Mike Letourneau, Greg Litvyn, Xander Mason-Mann, and Liam Murphy; sophomores Jack Dacey and Alex Attruia; and freshmen Zach Sperry, Zach Woxland, and Ethan Bertrand. Indians’ Head Coach Ralph Russo is assisted by Bill Graves.
This was Guilford’s fifth appearance in a state final, and the Indians had gone 3-1 in their previous four appearances. In 1994, Guilford routed East Windsor-Ellington-Somers 8-1 in the Division II State Tournament final. For the 2010 Division III final, the Indians defeated Brookfield-Bethel-Danbury 7-3. The Indians then lost the 2011 Division II final against Cheshire by a 3-1 score. Last year, Guilford took the Division II crown with a 5-3 triumph over Watertown-Pomperaug.
Guilford went 17-3 for the regular season this year. The Indians defeated Trinity Catholic (10-5 and 10-1), Yarmouth, Maine (3-2), Cape Elizabeth, Maine (6-5), West Haven (8-3), New Milford (9-4), Branford (4-2), East Haven-Old Lyme-Old Saybrook-East Hampton (6-2), Newtown (8-4), Housatonic-Northwestern-Wamogo (8-3), Amity (5-3), Watertown-Pomperaug (2-1), Hand (7-3 and 8-4), North Haven (4-3 in overtime), Cheshire (4-1), and Milford (8-3). Guilford’s losses came against North Branford (4-3 in overtime), Hamden (7-4), and New Fairfield-Immaculate (5-1).
Guilford also won the SCC/SWC Division II Tournament title for the second straight season. The top-seeded Indians defeated No. 4 Amity 6-3 in the semifinals and then edged No. 2 Watertown-Pomperaug 3-2 in the final.
In the Division II State Tournament, No. 3 Guilford defeated No. 14 E.O. Smith-Tolland 2-1 in overtime for the first round, bet No. 6 Glastonbury 6-3 in the quarterfinals, and then downed No. 2 Watertown-Pomperaug 2-1 in the semifinals prior to facing Farmington Valley in the final.