Goalie Michael Garteig made 33 saves and No. 4 Quinnipiac scored two goals in 17 seconds in the second period as the Bobcats defeated neighborhood rival Yale 4-0 February 14 in New Haven in a game seen LIVE on CPTV Sports. The ‘War on Whitney’ will be repeated several times in upcoming days (check broadcast schedule).
Quinnipiac, which defeated Yale three times last season before losing to the Bulldogs in the NCAA Division I championship game, improved to 21-5-5, 10-3-3 ECAC. No. 13 Yale, which failed to capitalize on five power plays, dropped to 12-8-4, 7-7-3.
Cory Hibbeler opened the scoring in the first period for Quinnipiac. The Bobcats then struck in quick succession in the second period. After Sam Anas scored at the 7:33 mark, Connor Clifton — who scored in Quinnipiac’s 3-3 home tie with the Bulldogs in November — followed up 17 seconds later. Quinnipiac is second and Yale sixth in the ECAC standings. Read the game story by the New Haven Register’s Chip Malafronte here.
No. 4 Quinnipiac and No. 13 Yale used Thursday’s snow day to prepare for their second meeting of the season Friday at Yale’s Ingalls Rink that will be LIVE on CPTV Sports at 7:00 pm. The New Haven Register’s Chip Malafronte previewed the quickly sold-out matchup and also profiled bruising Quinnipiac forward Bryce Van Brabant. The teams tied 3-3 in their November meeting in Hamden — seven months after Yale beat Quinnipiac 4-0 for the NCAA Division I title.
HIGH SCHOOLS
There was news even as the state schedule was wiped out by the snowstorm, which has already caused some Friday games to be postponed as well. Conard-West Hartford’s Matheus Souza was named Connecticut’s boys soccer Gatorade Player of the Year. Souza will attend UConn. . .Football rule changes for next season include the prohibition of ‘targeting’, according to the CIAC.
WINTER OLYMPICS
Max Pacioretty of New Canaan had an assist as the U.S. men’s hockey team opened with a 7-1 pool-play win over Slovakia in Sochi, Russia. Hamden’s Jonathan Quick started in goal, but U.S. coach Dan Blysma would not commit to starting him in Saturday’s game against Russia, according to NBC Connecticut. There’s a lot of home nation pressure on the Russians, according to NPR’s Robert Smith. Follow WNPR.org throughout the Games for updates on state athletes and other news from Sochi.
For the second time in as many weeks, the No. 2 team in the state lost to a lower-ranked city rival. Hillhouse held New Haven rival Career to 11 first-half points in a 59-41 victory Wednesday. Career, which moved to second in the GameTimeCT.com media poll Monday, is 16-2. Hillhouse, which moved back into the poll at No. 10 this week, is 14-4. Last week in Waterbury, Sacred Heart topped then-No. 2 Crosby 90-82 in overtime in a game seen on CPTV Sports . . . Unranked Stamford also scored an upset in its city rivalry, winning at No. 7 Westhill 62-49 as Gianni Carwin scored 24 points. Stamford is 11-4, Westhill 13-3.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
No. 7 Weaver handed No. 3 South Windsor its second loss in a row, defeating the host Bobcats 63-51 as Weaver avenged a 56-55 home loss to South Windsor seen on CPTV Sports. @WeaverBBBall reported DeJane James led the Beavers with 17 points. Both teams are 16-2.
BOYS HOCKEY
No. 1 Darien avoided a major upset, edging St. Joseph-Trumbull 1-0 on Thomas Watters’ third-period power-play goal. . . Xavier-Middletown again showed it can play with the state’s top teams, tying No. 3 Notre Dame-West Haven 7-7 tie overtime. No. 9 Xavier is 5-8-2, ND 11-3-2. . . . The CIAC Division III ratings could be changing after the tripleheader at Danbury Ice Arena covered by CPTV Sports. No. 1 Masuk lost to No. 8 New Fairfield-Immaculate in 1-0 in the first game. No. 3 Sheehan-Wallingford topped Joel Barlow, 7-4 in game two; New Milford, one of the top teams in Division II, shut out Newtown 3-0 in the nightcap. The broadcast premieres are Saturday starting at 5:00 pm. . . @MatthewConyers of The Hartford Courant noted Tommy Usseglio had 57 saves as East Catholic-Manchester, the top-rated D2 team, defeated Glastonbury 3-2 in overtime.
WINTER OLYMPICS
The U.S. men’s hockey team, with Jonathan Quick of Hamden and the Los Angeles Kings starting in goal, begins pool play this morning against Slovakia . . . . The U.S. women lost to Canada 3-2 in their final pool-play game. The teams are heavily favored to meet again in the medal round . . . . Follow WNPR.org for updates on state athletes and other news from the Games.
OF NOTE
The Hartford Courant’s Bill Leukhardt reported the Berlin school board is hiring an attorney to investigate claims of harassment lodged by a group of Berlin High coaches against longtime Board of Education president Gary Brochu.
Harrison O’Connell scored two goals and Nick Capriglione had 16 saves in his second shutout of the year as New Milford defeated Newtown 3-0 in boys hockey February 12 at the Danbury Ice Arena. The game was part of the Danbury tripleheader covered by CPTV Sports; the broadcast premiere is Saturday February 15 at 5:00 pm, the first of three premieres. New Milford, the fourth-rated team in CIAC Division II, is 13-3; Newtown, second in Division III, is 9-3-3. CPTV Sports is on Charter 223 and over-the-air digital 49.3 in New Milford and Newtown.
Jake Ryan scored in the second period and Ryan Dobos had 30 saves, including a crucial one with 17 seconds left, as New Fairfield-Immaculate edged Masuk-Monroe 1-0 in a boys hockey game February 12 at the Danbury Ice Arena. The game was part of the Danbury tripleheader covered by CPTV Sports; the broadcast premiere is Saturday February 15 at 7:00 pm, the second of three premieres. Masuk (12-3) is the top-rated team in CIAC Division III; New Fairfield-Immaculate (9-4-2) is sixth.
Christian Giacondino had two goals and two assists as Sheehan-Wallingford rallied from an early deficit with three third-period goals to defeat Joel Barlow-Redding 7-4 in a boys hockey game February 12 at Danbury Ice Arena. The game was part of the Danbury tripleheader covered by CPTV Sports; see replays in upcoming days (check broadcast schedule). Sheehan (11-3-1) is rated third in CIAC Division III.
Lyman Hall-Wallingford earned a share of the SCC Housatonic Division girls basketball title with Amity-Woodbridge with a 59-52 home victory over Amity February 11. CPTV Sports will show replays in upcoming day s (check broadcast schedule). Krista Petersen had 19 points for Lyman Hall (16-3). Chloe Brinton (13 points) reached the 1,000-point mark for Amity (17-2), which had won 16 in a row. Read the game story from GameTimeCT.com’s Henry Chisholm here.
Front page image courtesy Arnold Gold / New Haven Register
In the marquee matchup of the night, No. 4 Bridgeport Central ended No. 3 Greenwich’s unbeaten run with a 53-45 FCIAC win in Bridgeport in a surprisingly low-scoring game, as reported by the Connecticut Post’s Doug Bonjour. Tyler Ancrum had 17 points to lead Central. Both teams are 14-1. . . @nhrJoeMorelli reported that No. 1 Fairfield Prep is the state’s lone unbeaten team following Westbrook’s 68-45 loss to East Hampton. That game was a rematch of Westbrook’s win in January seen LIVE on CPTV Sports. Westbrook is 17-1, East Hampton 14-2. . .@CTHSBasket reported both Plainfield’s Ryan Pambuku and Killingly’s Nick Hewitt both scored 30 points in Plainfield’s 54-53 ECC win.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Ledyard handed No. 5 Norwich Free Academy its second loss of the season as the Colonels won 58-46 to earn a share of the ECC Large Division title. NFA is 17-2. Ledyard, which beat East Catholic earlier this season in a game seen on CPTV Sports, is 16-2 . . . . Lyman Hall-Wallingford earned a share of the SCC Housatonic Division title with a 59-52 home victory over Amity-Woodbridge in a game that will be seen on CPTV Sports Thursday at 7:30 pm. Krista Petersen had 19 points for Lyman Hall (16-3). GameTimeCT.com’s Henry Chisholm also reported Chloe Brinton (13 points) reached the 1,000-point mark for Amity (17-2), which had won 16 in a row (YouTube highlights below).
BOYS HOCKEY
For the first time this season, Darien was a unanimous choice as the No. 1 team in the GameTimeCT.com state coaches/media poll. Fairfield Prep leapfrogged Notre Dame-West Haven back into the No. 2 spot. Masuk-Monroe (12-2), playing in the Danbury Ice Arena tripleheader Wednesday being covered by CPTV Sports, is in the also-receiving-votes category. The tripleheader, featuring the three top-rated teams in CIAC Division III, starts at 4:00 pm as Masuk (12-2) takes on New Fairfield-Immaculate. That’s followed by Sheehan-Joel Barlow and Newtown-New Milford. The broadcast premieres are Saturday starting at 5:00 pm.
COLLEGE HOCKEY
The UConn men recorded a historic victory Tuesday night, defeating No. 9 Providence 3-2 in Rhode Island. It was the program’s first victory over a top 10 opponent. The Huskies (15-9-4), who got 58 saves from Matt Grogan, are moving up into Hockey East next season, where they’ll be playing some of Division I’s top teams, including Boston College.
WINTER OLYMPICS
The U.S. women’s hockey team, with veteran Julie Chu of Fairfield among the team’s leaders, takes on arch-rival Canada today in the final pool-play game for both teams. There’s no love lost between the teams, as NPR’s Tamara Keith reported. Follow WNPR.org throughout the Games for updates on local athletes and other news from Sochi.
Walter ‘Doc’ Hurley, whose accomplishments as an athlete, coach, educator and administrator made him a legend at Weaver High, in the city of Hartford and the state, died Sunday at age 91. The Hartford Courant chronicled his lifetime achievements, and political cartoonist Bob Englehart paid tribute. Many took to Twitter to pay their respects to Hurley, including Sen. Chris Murphy. Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra requested flags be lowered to half-staff in the city to honor Hurley.
Another team was knocked from the unbeaten ranks as No. 3 South Windsor lost to East Catholic-Manchester, 55-50. East Catholic (10-7) was led by Dominique Woods’ 12 points and 12 rebounds. South Windsor (16-1) doesn’t have much time to regroup before Wednesday’s rematch with No. 7 Weaver. South Windsor took a dramatic 56-55 win at Weaver in January seen on CPTV Sports. . . CPTV Sports will be in Wallingford Tuesday night as Amity-Woodbridge visits Lyman Hall in a matchup of the SCC Housatonic Division’s top teams. Amity has already clinched a tie for the division title. The broadcast premiere is Thursday at 7:30 pm.
BOYS HOCKEY
@KPatakyPhoto had a ringside seat for Cheshire High’s amazing comeback in the Rams’ 8-6 win over the Fairfield co-op team at the Northford Ice Palace. Cheshire trailed 6-1 after two periods before scoring seven unanswered goals in the third.
WINTER OLYMPICS
There were lots of Connecticut connections on the ice in the U.S. women’s 9-0 rout of Switzerland in a pool-play game in Sochi, Russia. Hilary Knight, who played at Choate in Wallingford, scored for the U.S., which gets veteran leadership from four-time Olympian Julie Chu of Fairfield. On the Switzerland roster were Yale’s Phoebe Staenz and former UConn player Jessica Lutz. The U.S. plays arch-rival Canada Wednesday in the final pool-play game. Follow WNPR.org for updates on state athletes and other news from the Games . . . The New London Day’s Chuck Banning found another state Olympic connection — Pete and Peggy Plourde, the grandparents of U.S. women’s slopestyle gold medalist Jamie Anderson, live in Montville. Pete Plourde was a longtime high school football coach and administrator at St. Bernard and Montville.
The GameTimeCT.com state coaches/media poll remained largely unchanged, with unbeatens Capital Prep-Hartford, Mercy-Middletown and South Windsor still 1-2-3. On Tuesday night, CPTV Sports will be in Wallingford as Amity-Woodbridge visits Lyman Hall (broadcast premiere Thursday 7:30 pm). Amity (17-1) and Lyman Hall (15-3) are 1-2 in the SCC Oronoque Division and in the also-receiving-votes category in the poll. Cromwell (15-1), which defeated Morgan-Clinton 49-47 last Thursday in a game seen on CPTV Sports, is first in the also-receiving votes category.
TRACK AND FIELD
The CIAC released the qualifiers for the State Open boys and girls indoor meet at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven that starts at noon. CPTV Sports will cover the event (broadcast premiere TBA).
WRESTLING
Connecticut Wrestling Online reported that Danbury, No. 1 in the Norwich Bulletin’s state coaches poll, flexed its muscle Saturday at home with victories over No. 2 New Milford (38-25) and No. 3 Xavier (47-12) in a multi-team meet. Danbury is 20-2 (its only losses to out-of-state teams), New Milford 17-1. Conference meets are this week; the class meets the following weekend, and the State Open is February 28 and March 1 at the Floyd Little Athletic Center.
WINTER OLYMPICS
Ridgefield native Tucker West, 18, finished 22nd in the men’s luge in Sochi, Russia. Follow WNPR.org throughout the Games for updates on state athletes and other news.
