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02/20/2021 11:00 PMThe North Haven boys’ ice hockey team continued its solid start to the 2021 season by winning two of its three games during the second week of the campaign. North Haven notched a 3-2 win versus Cheshire on Feb. 15, blanked Branford by a 3-0 score the following day, and then took a 3-0 loss to West Haven on Feb. 20. North Haven has a record of 4-1 on the year.
North Haven started off its week by hosting Cheshire for a Monday afternoon game at Northford Ice Pavilion on Feb. 15. Head Coach Chris Avena’s team grabbed a two-goal lead with a pair of scores in the opening period and then held off the Rams the rest of the way to come away with a 3-2 victory.
Senior alternate captain wing Eli Brubacher netted two goals and had an assist for North Haven in the win. Sophomore center Tommy Guidone scored a goal to go with an assist to help the team prevail. Senior captain wing Will Fiore, senior wing Mason Anderson, and junior defenseman Justin Pniewski handed out one assist apiece for North Haven in the victory. Junior goalie Jared Anderson turned aside 17 shots to earn his first win of the season in net.
North Haven struck first when Brubacher scored a power-play goal on assists from Guidone and Pniewski to give the team a 1-0 lead with 5:35 left in the first period. About four minutes later, Guidone buried a power-play goal on a Brubacher assist to put North Haven up 2-0 with 1:18 to play in the frame. North Haven held on to its two-goal lead heading into the second period.
There was no scoring during the second period, but just 29 seconds into the third, Cheshire scored a power-play goal to cut the deficit to 2-1. However, North Haven answered back as Brubacher continued his big night by netting his second goal of the game to make it 3-1 with 12:05 to go. Sullivan and Fiore had the assist on Brubacher’s insurance marker.
The Rams made things interesting by scoring a goal with 28 seconds remaining after they had pulled their goalie to get an extra attacker. Cheshire had now cut it to 3-2, but Anderson and the North Haven defense were able to hold the Rams at bay the rest of the way and walk off the ice with the one-goal win.
Two days after edging Cheshire, North Haven faced off against Branford as the road team at Northford Ice Pavilion in a rematch of last year’s conference final. North Haven recorded a 3-0 shutout over the Hornets to get its fourth victory of the season. North Haven scored one goal in the second period and two goals in the third on its way to the win.
Brubacher, Mason Sullivan, and senior center Aaron Racino scored North Haven’s goals in the game. Senior defenseman Justin Marks, sophomore defender Owen Quick, and Guidone each had an assist. Senior alternate captain goalkeeper Andrew Sacco played an excellent game in net to get the shutout with the support of some stout North Haven defense.
Following a scoreless first period, Sullivan broke the ice when he scored on a wrist shot from the slot for a 1-0 North Haven lead. The assist went to Quick on the goal.
North Haven maintained its one-goal edge entering the final period of play. In the third, North Haven extended its lead to 2-0 when Racino scored a goal on an assist from Guidone. Brubacher closed out the scoring for North Haven with a goal at the 13:21 mark of the third to make the score 3-0. Marks had the assist on Brubacher’s goal to help North Haven solidify its victory against the Hornets.
On Feb. 20, North Haven hosted West Haven for its Senior Night Game at Northford Ice Pavilion. West Haven scored one goal in the first period and two goals in the third to get a 3-0 victory. North Haven’s offense took 30 shots on goal in the game, but was unable to sneak any of them past the Blue Devils’ goalkeeper.
North Haven is playing three more games at Northford Ice Pavilion during this upcoming week. North Haven hosted Amity on Feb. 24 (after press time); will face North Branford as the road team at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27; and will then play an away game against Sheehan at 3:50 p.m. on Wednesday, March 3.