By Brittany Burke
The CCSU hockey team split its weekend games vying for the CT Governor’s Cup for the second year in a row against Western Connecticut State University and the University of Connecticut.
A 4-2 win over WCSU in the opening round of the tournament matched the Blue Devils against the UConn Huskies in the final round after the team defeated CW Post on Friday.
The Blue Devils fought hard but fell short against the Huskies in the final minutes of the third, losing by one goal, 7-6, in similar fashion to last season’s tournament. The Blue Devils were defeated by the Huskies 5-4 in the first round of last year before going on to top the University of New Haven.
CCSU opted to put goalie Greg Coco in the net in the tournament rematch as the young CCSU team took to the ice to face the Huskies for the first time of the season. Last year’s match ups resulted in a loss and a tie between the two teams, with an early advantage in a three game series for the Huskies this season.
Despite the loss, the Blue Devils managed to overcome two three-goal deficits to remain in the game for the entire 60 minutes.
“I think the best thing that they did is stay positive throughout the whole game even when we were down three goals they were all positive and they really travels a long way,” said Head Coach Ben Adams.
Ryan Stanley began the game with an offensive intensity, netting an unassisted goal 1:06 into the first. Stanley had two goals and one assist in CCSU’s efforts against the Huskies. Stripping the puck from the Huskies, Stanley then took it straight up and past the net minder unassisted to tie the game at two.
However, the tie didn’t last long, as UConn capitalized on the power play created by a tripping penalty called on Ryan Beaulieu with 3:30 remaining. The Blue Devils let UConn control much of the first two periods before finding the spark in the third.
“I think we played a little slow at the beginning of the game but it was only a matter of time before we were able to pick it up and we did eventually in the third period but it was just a little too late. I think their goalie played really well but honestly I think we just ran out of time,” said Stanley. “We really stepped it up and they were tired and we ran four lines all game and kind of ran them down and it showed at the end.”
The one-goal CCSU deficit was increased to three with fewer than ten minutes to play in the second, but was cut to two with an unassisted goal from Tim Dillon fighting through traffic in front of the net.
Down by two with ten to play in the third Dillon struck against a worn out Husky team for a second time with the assist from Stanley.
As the clock ran down the Blue Devils were still faced with a one goal disadvantage causing the decision to pull Coco from the net for the extra man. However, much like WCSU’s efforts in the night before, CCSU could not generate the needed goal.
The loss to the Huskies ended a six-game win streak for the Blue Devils, which had been extended the night before with a victory over the Western Connecticut Colonials.
“We’ve been playing great we had a six-game streak going entering the tournament and we beat up on Western pretty nice and we came out today and started out slow but had a great third period and everyone was really working hard and we just missed a comeback,” said Knobloch, who scored against UConn in the third to cut the Huskies’ lead to two.
With Ross Mocko in the net to open the tournament, the Colonials gained a rapid advantage over the Blue Devils, netting two unanswered goals in a span of 24 seconds.
“We knew it was gonna be a tight game regardless of how we started and I don’t really think we started that slow or that bad just two unlucky bounces,” Adams.
“Mocko came out to play one it hit something and bounced in front and they just finished it the other one was just a bang bang, cut it in front, he lost his glove I think there should’ve been a whistle but it is what it is. They fought through even with Carroll out of the line up with the concussion they fought through a lot of stuff and came out with a W.”
From that point on the Blue Devils stepped up against a very physical club. Less than one minute after WCSU’s second goal CCSU went on the power play resulting in the first Blue Devil goal of the night from and the third goal of the season for Dillon, assisted by Knobloch and Stanley.
“It definitely helped to get the power play, an early goal to get us back into it,” said Dillon. “You get down three and it gets a little deeper, but you get that first one and it’s definitely a momentum changer.”
The score was tied entering the first intermission following a goal from Stanley, who was fed the puck from Knobloch.
Stanley completed the tournament with three points and two assists while Knobloch notched an unassisted goal and two assists.
Late in the first, a clean hit was delivered to team captain Tom Carroll against the boards in somersault fashion causing him to leave the game for the final two periods. With the possibility of a concussion, Carroll sat out for the remainder of the tournament.
Carroll’s physical presence was missed, but the team stepped up and held the Colonials for the remaining 40 minutes.
Contributions from all lines aided in the win as Zack Vidmosko and Jaime Germaine connected with Dan Skaperas for his second goal of the season and the third unanswered CCSU goal of the night.
The fourth and final unanswered goal of the night from Max Brereton gave CCSU the two goal advantage and eventual win.
“We got great contributions from all lines it’s finally the first game where we had three different lines score. D-zone was very good we still have to tighten up with the strong side defensemen on the point shot but everyone played well,” said Adams.
In a last ditch effort the Colonials pulled the goalie with 1:25 remaining, putting six of the biggest athletes on the ice, but the team couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity before the end of the period.
The Blue Devils go on a break over Thanksgiving, but will go on the road to face Montclair and UConn on Dec. 4 and 5. The team will then head to Danbury Dec. 10 for a rematch against WCSU before coming back to Simsbury on Dec. 11 to play Endicott at 8:15 p.m.