This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
03/28/2021 12:00 AMThe Guilford girls’ ice hockey squad had a chance to win its second-straight conference title when the team faced West Haven-Sacred Heart Academy (WH-SHA) in the SCC final, but Head Coach Rick Binkowski knew that it was going to be quite a challenge for the Grizzlies to defend their crown. In the end, Guilford took a 5-2 defeat against WH-SHA in the championship game at Bennett Rink on March 25 to finish the year at 8-2 overall with both losses coming against the Westie Sharks.
No. 2 seed Guilford was only down 2-1 entering the third period, but top-seeded WH-SHA scored the first two goals of the frame to make it 4-1. The Grizzlies came back with a goal to cut the deficit to 4-2 midway through the period, but could get no closer as WH-SHA came away with the 5-2 victory.
“It was a crazy season, and [WH-SHA] was ready to play in this championship game,” Coach Binkowski said. “They have a much-deeper team than us. We were very short this year as far as our bench goes. For every good hockey player we have, they had two. They eventually wore us down with their aggressive play.”
The Westie Sharks took a 1-0 lead by netting the first goal of the game with 52 seconds left in the opening period. WH-SHA scored another goal early in the second period to take a 2-0 advantage. A few minutes later, junior captain Maddie Epke scored an unassisted goal for Guilford to make it 2-1 through two.
“They double- and triple-teamed Maddie the entire game. They made things very difficult for us offensively,” said Binkowski. “When we played [WH-SHA] in our first meeting of the year, it was obvious that we needed to come up with something different to defeat them.”
Although Guilford had some momentum heading into the third, the Westie Sharks scored three goals during the final period to solidify the win. Freshman Sofia Cuozzo scored a goal for the Grizzlies on an assist from junior captain Olivia Gill to make it 4-2 with 7:34 remaining, but WH-SHA put home an empty- netter late in the game to finish off the victory.
Junior alternate captain Julia McDonald stopped 39 of the 43 shots that she faced in net for Coach Binkowski’s squad. Entering the game, Binkowski made a strategic move that involved pairing up senior alternate captain Christina Garafalo and sophomore Kim Evans on the same line, but ultimately, WH-SHA’s offense proved too much for the Grizzlies to overcome.
“Our plan going into this game was to take Christina from defense and Kim off the first line, then put those two together on the second line to generate more consistency on offense for our second unit,” Coach Binkowski said. “Christina was our only senior this season, and she was always up for the challenge, whether that meant changing positions or moving lines. She always did what was best for the team. Unfortunately for us, we fell short in this one.”
Guilford had advanced to the SCC final by earning an 8-1 victory versus Law/ND-Fairfield/Foran/Weston/Pomperaug in a semifinal game at Northford Ice Pavilion on March 23. Epke had a huge game, scoring three goals and dishing out four assists for the Grizzlies. Cuozzo also had a hat trick, while Gill had a goal with two assists. Junior Mainey DePetris had two assists, Evans scored a goal, and freshman Ryleigh Gagnon contributed an assist.
Despite the subsequent loss in the final, Guilford had several players earn All-SCC recognition for their efforts this year. Epke made the All-SCC First Team, Gill and Cuozzo both made the Second Team, while McDonald and Evans earned Honorable Mention. Epke, who scored 29 goals and had 22 assists, was also named the SCC’s co-Player of the Year alongside Mackenzie Gardner of WH-SHA. Cuozzo had 24 goals with nine assists, and Gill handed out 12 assists to go with two goals for the Grizzlies this season.
While Guilford wasn’t quite able to defend its SCC title, the team still finished with an excellent record and also saw several victories off the ice that made the season special. For one, the Grizzlies had to play their designated home games at various rinks around the area after their home rink in East Haven was closed down due to repairs prior to the season. Guilford never had a definitive practice schedule and was often forced to begin its practices as late as 9 p.m. On top of that, the team started its season 10 days late due to a COVID-19 exposure at the high school.
Even with all of these obstacles, the Grizzlies never backed down, and Binkowski feels proud of his team for persevering.
“We battled through adversity all year. After this game, I wanted to let the girls know how proud I was of them,” said Binkowski. “We lost six seniors going into this season, and we knew we had some gaps to fill, but we still managed to finish 8-2. You take the closing of East Haven rink, the pandemic—there was so much going on. I had to redo our schedule three times. Every single game we played was an away contest, so it was tough, but we made it work.”
Binkowski is already looking ahead to next season and sees another solid year in store for Guilford. Binkowski believes that all the adversity the Grizzlies faced this season will make the squad that much stronger in 2022.
“Up against all of that adversity, we still made it to the finals, we still had a good showing,” Binkowski said. “Next season starts today. I already booked some games for next year, and we are really looking forward to it.”
The Guilford girls’ ice hockey roster includes senior alternate captain Christina Garofalo; junior captain Maddie Epke, junior captain Olivia Gill, and junior alternate captain Julia McDonald; juniors Brianna Lent, Haley Kruczek, and Mainey DePetris; sophomores Anastasia Petritz, Alex Glascoff, Kaili Rosa, Caroline Schwartz, and Kim Evans; and freshmen Lillian Schroeder, Ryleigh Gagnon, and Sofia Cuozzo.
Binkowski’s coaching staff features assistant coaches Tom Epke, Graham Gill, and Scott Neleber.