tourney ice hockey heating up

Eagles Ice Hockey Wins Tourney Thriller
Trailing 3-0 late in the second period, Wethersfield ice hockey was on the brink of elimination in the quarterfinals of the Division II state tournament at Koeppel Community Sports Center in New Britain. 
           
Undaunted, the Eagles deep senior class took over. 
           
Will McCarter scored on a knuckler in traffic in the waning stages of the period to start the comeback, before Colby Quinn scored on an improbable angle following an assist from junior Jack Millen, narrowing the deficit to one goal with six minutes left in regulation. 
           
With 25 seconds remaining in regulation, Wethersfield pulled their goalie in a last ditch effort and it worked. Millen won a draw and Ryan Mazur slid the puck over to his brother Shane Mazur, who fired a laser into the back of the net to tie the game up and send it into overtime. 
           
In the extra session, Shane Mazur duplicated his heroics with a long range slap shot game-winner after receiving a pass from Millen, advancing the Eagles to the semifinal round with a 4-3 victory. 
           
​The come-from-behind victory extended the season for the Eagles and the high school careers for eight seniors who created an unforgettable tourney memory.   

Nor’easters Put Terriers on Ice
Newington co-op ice hockey defeated Rocky Hill co-op 5-2 in the opening round of the Division III state tournament on March 7.
           
The Nor’easters found offense from a variety of sources and got 15 saves from goalie Jeremy Wagner to oust their conference rivals. 
           
Josh Grimm, Harrison Ranger, Evan Oliver, Andrew Stribling, and Evan Howard each found the back of the net in the victory. Grimm added a pair of assists.
           
After falling behind 1-0, the Terriers tied it up on a goal from Tyler Poulin in the closing minutes of the first period. 
           
Newington scored the next three goals before Jacob Nelly tipped in a goal following a shot from Gabe Boily, cutting the deficit to 4-2 midway through the third. 
           
Howard added an insurance goal for Newington late in regulation to seal the victory. 
           
It marked the third time that Newington defeated the Rocky Hill co-op—which includes Middletown, Plainville, and Haddam-Killingworth—defeating them Feb. 9 and Feb 26 by identical 7-2 scores. 
           
The loss ended the high school careers for eight seniors; Boily, Connor Konopka, Jacob Nelson, Sean Sides, Ryan Brady, Jeffrey Beliveau, and brothers Brody and Owen Davidson. 
           
After eliminating Rocky Hill, Newington knocked-off Staples 2-1 in the quarterfinals. 
           
Tyler Leavitt and Braeden Humphrey each scored and Wagner stopped a dozen more shots to preserve the victory.