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WH YOUTH HOCKEY 2017

(November 27, 2017) - The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 16-7-3 with a hard fought 4-4 tie against Greater New Haven Sunday morning at the Edward L. Bennett Rink in West Haven.
Trailing by a pair of goals, the Westies rallied to pull out the tie. Defenseman Dave Brown led the way with two goals and an assist.
Brown gave the Westies a 1-0 lead just 3 minutes, 12 seconds into the game off an assist from Bruno Martone. Greater New Haven scored the next three goals to lead by two goals after one period, before the West Haven power play got the team back on track.

Photo courtesy of Mike Madera.
Michael Madera fed Mickey Dowd in front and Dowd quickly snapped home Madera’s pass to get West Haven within a goal with 7:05 left in the middle period. Just 1:20 later, Kyle Droney took a pass from Jayden Spreyer and evened the game, with Colin Deane also picking up an assist on the power play goal.
After Greater New Haven took a 4-3 lead and West Haven goaltender Brendan Smith kept the game within striking distance, Smith nudged a pass to Brown who went the length of the ice for the equalizer with 7:47 remaining in the game.
The Westies put on a great amount of pressure in the closing moments, but could not get the go-ahead goal. 

(November 20, 2017) - The West Haven Mite A travel hockey team split the weekend, losing to Yale, then rebounding to beat Northwestern. Owen Santos and Brooklyn Maher challenged their opponents, and Aedan Guarino’s multiple goals helped lead the Westies to victory in a close game against Northwestern. Luke Jaques sealed the deal with the final goal of the game. 
The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team continued its winning ways with two more victories on Saturday.  The Squirt A's have now won 16 consecutive games and have an overall record of 19-4-1.  The team defeated Whalers A, 9-2, on Saturday morning at Edward L. Bennett Rink, then traveled to the SoNo Ice House on Saturday evening and beat the Norwalk Roughriders, 7-1.

Photo courtesy of Shannon Goetze.
The Whalers took a 1-0 lead with a power play goal at 7:48 of the first period. but the Westies quickly came back to tie it.  Brady Price led Zach Goetze over the blue line and then knocked in Goetze's return pass at 8:39. 
Just over two minutes into the second period, Goetze swept home a loose puck with Ethan Kelly and Ryan Pniewski assisting for a 2-1 lead.  Five minutes later, Connor Moriarty kept a puck in the zone and passed ahead to Price.  The winger then fed Kelly who deked and scored to make it 3-1. 
Later, Thomas Porto gathered in the puck at the blue line and snapped a wrist shot home for a 4-1 lead after two periods.  West Haven goaltender Jacob Silva was brilliant in the second period making nine saves. 
The Blue Devils came out smoking in the third and scored four goals in the first three minutes.  Porto scored from the slot with Goetze assisting,  Sean Studley went five-hole with an assist to Ethan Kelly, and on the ensuing faceoff, Porto skated directly to the net and scored for his hat trick.  On next faceoff, Goetze did the same.  The Whalers scored off a scramble in front to make it 8-2 with 2:29 left in the game before Goetze went bar down from Price to earn his own hat trick and cap the scoring.  Silva was strong in net and totaled 15 saves in the game.
On Saturday night the Roughriders took a 1-0 lead in the first period, before Pniewski jump-started the West Haven offense. Ethan Kelly passed to Studley, who found Pniewski in front, and the winger deposited the puck to make it 1-1.  Pniewski then one-timed Studley's feed on the power play three minutes later to give the Blue Devils a 2-1 lead at the first intermission. 
Early in the second, Silva's pad save went to Dylan Bosworth, who hit Goetze for a breakaway and a 3-1 lead.  Dylan Link and Matthew Kelly were solid on defense for the Westies and held Norwalk to only two shots in the period.  Goetze, from Porto and Price, scored with 19 seconds left in the second to make the score 4-1. 
In the final period, Porto scored a power play goal from Goetze and Moriarty.  Porto hit Bosworth for a point shot that Price neatly deflected past the Norwalk goalie.  A Goetze breakaway from Porto and Bosworth ended the scoring, giving Goetze his second hat trick of the day, and giving the Westies the 7-1 win.  Silva was solid again and finished with 12 saves.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 16-7-2 with a split of its two games this past weekend. The Westies opened the weekend with a victory over Stamford, before falling to Wonderland at the Edward L. Bennet Rink in West Haven Sunday morning.
In the weekend opener in Stamford, West Haven posted 4-3 victory. The Westies took a 1-0 lead just 54 seconds into the game when Dante Hardt scored off of a rebound of a Shane Repetto shot, before Stamford evened the game with 1:27 left in the opening period.
The Westies took a 2-1 lead with 4:05 gone by in the second period when Nolan Cole scored a power play goal off assists from Jayden Spreyer and Haygen Axelrod. With the game even at two, Cole set up Spreyer for a 3-2 advantage with 1:07 remaining in the middle period.
Stamford evened the game at three, but West Haven scored the eventual winner with 9:36 remaining as Dave Brown scored off an assist from Michael Madera.
West Haven closed the weekend with a 5-2 loss against the Wonderland Wizards. Wonderland took a 2-0 lead just 3:15 into the contest, before Colin Deane cut the deficit in half with a power play goal off assists from Spreyer and Cole.
Trailing 3-1 in the third period, Brown scored an unassisted goal, but it was not enough as Wonderland added an insurance goal with 6:46 to go, and an empty net tally late in the contest.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team continued its hot streak this weekend, winning all three of its games and extending its winning streak to seven. On Friday, West Haven defeated East Haven 8-3, Saturday the Westies beat Southeastern 5-0, and on Sunday, they won 5-3 over the Riverhawks.

Photo courtesy of Pat Fielosh.
On Friday night, the Westies opened up quick as Anthony Peschell scored just 11 seconds into the contest. Nick Boanno followed with a goal 20 seconds later for a 2-0 lead. East Haven battled back to make it 3-3 after 2 periods, but the Westies dominated the third period, outscoring their opponent 5-0. Peschell finished with a hat trick, Boanno added another tally to go along with his three assists. Ben Carfora also added a goal and four assists. Ryan Bernardi and Justin Pniewski were the remaining goal scorers.
On Saturday morning, the Westies hosted Southeastern and avenged an earlier season defeat. The Westies never gave Southeastern a chance, dominating them and outshooting them 52 -13.
Michael Kelly knocked home a rebound off a shot by Ryan Smith early, then it would be Andrew Wrzosek and Rocco Plano who would both follow with goals which helped lead the Devils to victory. Defense played a huge factor in the game. Defensemen Joe D’Aurio, Adrian Fielosh and Luca Ubaldi, as well as the net minding of both Joe Crisci and Nick Link limited Southeasterns chances and preserved the shutout.
On Sunday afternoon, the Westies traveled to Shelton to play the Riverhawks. Although controlling most of the play, the Westies trailed 1-0 after the first period.
Ryan Smith changed that with two second period goals, and assisted on Plano’s goal as well to give the Westies a 3-2 lead after two. The Westies allowed that lead slip away, but Peschell and Bernardi netted the final two goals of the contest to give the Devils the lead they never relinquished. 

(November 13, 2017) - The West Have Mite A travel hockey team split a pair of games this weekend. Saturday started off with a tough loss against a very good Southeastern Seahawks team. The Blue Devils came back on Eric Boguniecki Day at West Haven with a tough fought win against Darien. Matt Cicosantti and Finn Moriarty led the scoring for West Haven.
The game was ultimately decided by the outstanding goaltending of Alex Werle, who made multiple saves for the Westies to pull out the win. 
The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team extended its winning streak to 14 consecutive games with three more victories this week.  The team has been improving in all facets and the winning streak has been built on strong defense, unselfish offense, clutch goal-scoring and solid goaltending. 
On Tuesday, the Westies defeated Ridgefield A, 5-0, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.  They followed with home wins at Edward L. Bennett Rink, defeating Darien A1, 8-2, on Saturday and Wonderland Wizards A1, 4-3, on Sunday.  The Squirt A's overall record is now 17-4-1.
The Blue Devils and their families boarded a bus to the Barclays Center on Tuesday morning for an Election Day tilt before attending the New York Islanders-Edmonton Oilers game later that night.  In the opening period versus the Ridgefield Lions, Brady Price gave West Haven a 1-0 lead at the 4:30 mark off a feed from Zach Goetze. 

Photo courtesy of Mike Madera.
The Westies then took command of the game with three second period goals.  Dylan Link fed Thomas Porto, who deked left and scored right at 4:42.  Porto then redirected Goetze's seeing-eye pass at 9:29.  Matthew Kelly chipped ahead to Sean Studley who made a nice hustle play up the left boards and fired toward the net where Ryan Pniewski finished the job for a 4-0 lead at 10:40.  In the third period, Porto went the length of the ice and finished top shelf to complete his hat trick and cap the 5-0 win.  West Haven goaltender Jacob Silva made six saves to earn the shutout.
On Saturday morning, the Blue Devils faced the last team to beat them, Darien A1, who topped West Haven 9-5 on October 1.  Led by outstanding goaltending from Silva (20 saves) and the defensive pairings of Connor Moriarty and Dylan Bosworth, and Matthew Kelly and Link, the Westies' defense showed how much it has improved and shut down the Darien attack.  This allowed the Blue Devils offense to take over, which it did by scoring three goals within the opening two minutes of the first period. 
Porto stole a pass and fed Goetze for the initial tally, before Pniewski knocked in a rebound of Ethan Kelly's shot.  Goetze hit ahead to Price whose initial shot was stopped but he quickly snapped the puck to Porto who buried the one-timer for a 3-0 lead. On a power play, Goetze passed to Price, who fired off the post, but Porto back-handed in the rebound for his second straight hat trick and a 4-0 advantage at 4:23.  Darien scored off a scramble a minute later, but Silva made six clutch saves in the period to keep it 4-1.
Darien gained momentum with another goal 1:37 into the second.  Porto put an end to any possible comeback when he finished off Goetze's sweet pass at 7:55. Porto returned the favor and hit Goetze for a breakaway at 10:53. 
In the third period, Porto tapped in a power play goal in the opening minute from Price and Goetze, and then finished a breakaway in the final minute to complete the scoring.  Silva came up clutch between the pipes many times throughout the game.
On Sunday, the Westies watched the Eric Boguniecki Day ceremony from the stands faced the Wonderland Wizards A1 team on the ice.  The Wizards took a 1-0 lead on a short-handed, breakaway goal with 1:05 remaining in the first period.  Just over three minutes into the second, Wonderland scored from the slot for a 2-0 lead. 
With time winding down in the second period, West Haven's top line got them right back in the game.  Porto wristed home a pass from Price in the slot with 1:50 on the clock.  Goetze then one-timed Price's feed 33 seconds later to tie the game.  With 49 seconds left, Silva made a kick save and then a glorious glove save on the rebound to keep it 2-2 at the second intermission.
The game remained tight and both goalies were sharp in the third.  The Wizards regained the lead with 4:35 remaining in the game.  It took less than a minute for the Westies to respond as  Bosworth stole the puck at the red line, sped into the Wizards' zone, and roofed his shot with 3:50 to play. 
In the final minute, Porto won the puck at the red line and found Goetze, who one-timed his pass to a streaking Price on the wing.  Price then roofed his wrist shot with only 52 seconds on the clock to finish off the comeback win.  Silva finished with 18 saves.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team split a par of games this weekend, losing to the Riverhawks, before rebounding to blank Greater New Haven. The Westies had defeated Greenwich Skate Club to open the week in a day game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Against Greenwich, the Westies used a pair of goals by Jayden Spreyer to post a 2-1 victory. Spreyer gave the Westies a 1-0 lead off an assist from Nolan Cole with 2:55 left in the first.
After Greenwich evened the game in the second period, West Haven broke the tie less than a minute later as Spreyer scored an unassisted goal with 2:26 left in the second. Brendam Smith played well in goal for the Westies, making several stellar saves in the final period to preserve the win.  

Photo courtesy of Mike Madera.
The Westies opened the weekend with a 7-1 loss to the Riverhawks in Shelton on Saturday. Trailing 3-0 after one period of play, West Haven scored its only goal on the power play when Cade Simone scored off an assist from Dave Brown.
That was all the scoring on the day for the Westies as too many penalties did not allow the Westies to get going in the game.
The Westies rebounded for a split of the weekend and improved to 15-6-2 with a 3-0 victory over Greater New Haven Sunday morning at the Edward L. Bennett Rink on Eric Boguniecki Day.
West Haven took control of the game with two goals in the final 1:23 of the opening period. Colin Deane gave the Westies a 1-0 lead off an assist from Spreyer in front, before Simone scored off assists from Michael Madera and Mickey Dowd for a 2-0 advantage.
With Smith keeping the Warriors off the scoreboard with the help of defensemen Sean Bosworth, Jack Sellman, Jason Alling, Haygen Axelrod, Bruno Martone and Brown, the Westies were able to ice the game in the third period.
With 3:04 left in the game, Shane Repetto took control of the puck off a faceoff, walked in, and lifted a shot into the net for the 3-0 final.
For the second time in three weeks, the West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team completed a three- game sweep over a weekend. The Westies disposed of the Yale AA team 7-2 on Friday, then handled the Wizards B team 4-1 and the Wizards A1 team 3-2 over the rest of the weekend to improve their overall record to 11-6 on the season.
On Friday night, the Westies traveled to Northford and avenged an earlier season loss to the Yale AA team. Ben Carfora opened up the scoring by taking an offensive zone face off right to the net and putting it past the Yale goaltender.

​Photo courtesy of Megan Alfano.
Carfora then assisted on the first of Michael Kelly’s two goals, before Rocco Plano rounded out the first period scoring, giving the Devils an early 3-0 edge. Yale had their chances, but Joe Crisci was there to stop 27 Bulldog shots. Andrew Wrzosek completed the Westies scoring off a pass from Joe Honcz as the Westies beat one of the states better teams.
On Saturday afternoon, the Bantams traveled to Bridgeport to play The Wonderland Wizards B team. It was a sound win as the Westies never trailed and controlled the play most of the night. Anthony Peschell led the scorers, netting two, the second coming off a beautiful pass from line mate Nick Boanno, who finished the night with three assists. Ryan Smith also had a nice goal as he followed his own rebound to tap in a goal. Kelly also scored with the assist going to Adrien Fielosh. Nick Link stopped 19 of 20 shots in a fine performance.
On Sunday back home in Bennett Rink, the Westies battled the Wizard A1 team. In a tightly contested battle, the Devils scored first as Ryan Smith fired a shot from the point past the Wizards Goalie. The Wizards came back to tie, but that did not last long as Carfora put the Westies back in front. Luca Ubaldi then added a breakaway goal for a 3-1 lead. The Devils hung on for their third victory in as many days.

(November 6, 2017) - The West Haven Mite A travel hockey team faced off against the Norwalk Roughriders at home this Saturday. Andrew Grillo contributed to its win with a hat trick. Brooklyn Maher hustled to the puck and made it tough for her opponents to get by her.
On Sunday, the Westies traveled to Bridgeport for a game against the Wonderland Wizards. They added another win to their weekend. Owen Santos put the puck in the net and Kyle Guarino and Luke Jaques helped lead a strong defensive team effort.

​Photo courtesy of Mike Madera.
The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team posted two convincing home wins at Edward L. Bennett Rink this week.  The Blue Devils defeated the Norwalk Roughriders 6-2 on Saturday and followed that with an 8-1 win over the Central Capitals on Sunday.  The Westies have won eleven straight games and stand at 14-4-1 overall on the season.
Zach Goetze opened the scoring against the Roughriders on Saturday morning by converting a breakaway from Ethan Kelly 2:41 into the first period.  With 4:17 remaining in the period, Brady Price hit Goetze, who passed to Thomas Porto for an easy tap-in and a 2-0 lead. 
In the second period, Goetze and Porto assisted on Price's goal just 35 seconds in, before Sean Studey's backhander from Ethan Kelly a minute later made it 4-0 Blue Devils.  Porto won a defensive zone faceoff while short-handed and hit Goetze for another breakaway and a 5-0 lead after two periods. 
Norwalk cut it the deficit to 5-2 with goals one minute apart in the third period, while Porto rounded out the scoring with a breakaway of his own from Goetze.  Jacob Silva made eight saves in goal for the Westies.
On Sunday morning, the Blue Devils jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one period against the Capitals.  Goetze scored on a breakaway and added three assists in the period.  Porto, Price, Ethan Kelly and Ryan Pniewski scored goals, while Dylan Link chipped in with an assist. 
Goetze went five-hole from Dylan Bosworth, Price snapped home a wrister from Goetze, and Matthew Kelly scored from the point to give West Haven an 8-0 lead in the second period.  Central scored a power play goal in the final minute of the second to make it 8-1.  Silva was dazzling between the pipes in the third period, making several stops including a sweet glove save, and finished with 16 saves in the game.
The West Haven Squirt B travel hockey team came away with two victories this weekend with a 6-1 win over the Northwestern Icehawks and a 5-4 win over the Norwalk Roughriders.
Against the Icehawks, Cameren Lipford had five goals and J.J. Hall had one as well. Rafi Treat and Christopher Consorte each had an assist. Maddex Lafountain was solid in net with 14 saves for the Westies.
On Sunday, Lipford led the way again with four goals. Gavin Coady also added a goal.  Tyler McColgan played well with three assists and Gavin Fanelli had an assist as well.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 13-5-2 on the season with a win and a tie this past weekend. The Westies opened the weekend with a 2-2 tie at Ridgefield, before topping West Hartford 7-1 on Sunday.

Photo courtesy of Mike Madera.
Against Ridgefield, the Westies jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but could not hold on in the tie. Mickey Dowd and Michael Madera each had a goal and an assist in the tie, and Brendan Smith played well in goal.
With the Westies short-handed, Madera sent Dowd in on a break and Dowd put the Westies on top with 8:33 left in the opening period. Madera gave West Haven a 2-0 lead with 2:54 left on the opening period, scoring in front off assists from Cade Simone and Dowd.
West Haven never scored again in the contest, and Ridgefield scored once in the first period and added a tying goal with 9:06 left in the game to force the tie.
Against West Hartford, ten different players were in the scoring column for the Westies. Dante Hardt led the way with two goals and an assist, Madera added a goal and two assists, while Kyle Droney had two assists.
The Westies led 1-0 after one period as Colin Deane scored in front off assists from Jayden Spreyer and Nolan Cole. With the game even at one, West Have scored the final six goals of the game, including four in the second period.
Shane Repetto gave West Haven a 2-1 lead with a short-handed goal off an assist from Hardt, before Hardt scored off an assist from Droney 39 seconds later for another short-handed tally. Droney set up Hardt again with 4:46 left in the middle period for a 4-1 lead, before Madera put in a rebound of a Dave Brown shot with 1:58 left in the second for a 5-1 advantage.
The Westies iced the contest with two more goals in the third. Dowd scored off an assist from Madera with 4:36 gone in the third, and Madera sent Simone in for a goal with 4:52 left for the 7-1 final.
The West Haven Bantam A team experienced the highs of being dominant this weekend by defeating the Greenwich Blues 10-2 on Sunday, and the lows of being dominated by dropping a 10-0 decision to the Wonderland Wizard’s A team on Saturday.
On Saturday, the Westies hung around for a while playing the Wizards, one of Connecticut’s top teams. Rocco Plano and Ryan Smith helped keep the score close early with some strong defensive work.  Solid back checking by Michael Kelly, Ryan Bernardi and Nick Boanno was beneficial as well. The Wizards just kept the pressure on and were too much for the Devils to handle on this day. After falling behind 3-0 after the first period, the Westies never found a groove on their way to a tough loss.
Sunday was a different feel. The Westies jumped out to 7-0 first period lead and coasted home to a 10-2 final.
Line mates Ben Carfora, DJ Carfora and Steven Lewis led the way, scoring two goals each. Five of the goals came in the first period alone. Mike Alfano picked up a goal and an assist, Anthony Peschell and Justin Pniewski also tallied late. Joe Honcz chipped in with two assists and Joe D’Aurio added a helper as well. Nick Link made all the tough saves along the way as well. 

(October 29, 2017) - The West Haven Mite A travel team hosted West Hartford at the Edward L. Bennet Rink on Saturday. The team fought hard to the very end of the game, but was unable to come out with the win. Riley Crowley moved the puck up to his teammates, while Aedan Guarino led the team in scoring with four goals.
On Sunday, the team played another home game against South Windsor. Matthew Ciccosanti put the Westies on the scoreboard with three goals. Jake Newkirk made some key passes and scored a goal as well. 
The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team increased its winning streak to nine in a row with two commanding victories this weekend.  The Blue Devils defeated Central Capitals A1 team 8-1 on Saturday, and CT Northern Lights Girls 10U 11-0 on Sunday. 
Nine different players recorded points on the weekend, led by Zach Goetze (12) and Thomas Porto (8). The Westies overall record is now 12-4-1.
At the Newington Arena on Saturday morning, West Haven jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period.  Goetze scored the first three goals and Ethan Kelly added the fourth.  Goetze scored again in the second period and Porto scored one minute into the third period to give the Westies a 6-0 lead. 
Central scored off a scramble in front to make it 6-1, before Brady Price and Goetze (penalty shot) finished off the scoring.  Porto (2), Price (2), Dylan Bosworth, Sean Studley and Goetze all had assists in the game.  Jacob Silva had nine saves in goal for West Haven.
On Sunday morning, the Blue Devils headed to the International Skating Center of CT in Simsbury to face the Northern Lights Girls squad.  Goetze opened the scoring with a rebound goal off Price's initial shot.  Dylan Link lit the lamp from the right point before Ryan Pniewski scored off a rebound of a Studley shot to make the score 3-0 at the end of one period.
In the second period, the Westies dominated with six goals and held the puck in the Northern Lights' zone for the majority of the period.  Porto (from Goetze and Matthew Kelly) scored in the opening minute, and Studley roofed a tough-angle shot for a 6-0 lead. 
Porto fed Goetze, and Pniewski fed Studley to make it 8-0. Porto found Link for a point shot which Goetze neatly redirected in with a waist-high stick poke.  Price, from Porto and Goetze, made it 9-0 at the end of two periods.  Pniewski (assists to Goetze and Porto) and Ethan Kelly rounded out the scoring in the third.  Connor Moriarty skated hard and was solid on defense, while Silva made two saves in net to record the shutout.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team struggled to score this weekend and dropped a pair of contests. With the losses, West Haven fell to 12-5-1.
West Haven opened the weekend with a 4-2 loss in Simsbury. In a game filled with penalties, West Haven never got on track in the loss.
Trailing 1-0, West Haven evened the contest when Sean Bosworth scored on a shot from the circle off an assist from Dante Hardt. Simsbury, which scored three power play goals in the game, scored the next two goals for a 3-1 lead before Nolan Cole scored short-handed to get West Haven within a goal in the second period.
West Haven played host to Central on Sunday and again started slowly, trailing 2-0 after one period. Trailing 2-0 in the third, Colin Deane picked up a rebound in front to cut the deficit in half. Dave Brown and Cole assisted on West Haven’s lone goal as Central put the game away with the final two goals.   
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team started their weekend early with a Friday Night win over Greater New Haven, then completed the weekend sweep by pounding West Hartford 9-0 on Saturday, and traveling to the Gunnery and defeating Northwestern 8-1 on Sunday.
On Friday night, the Westies started off quickly as Anthony Peschell redirected a shot from defensemen Rocco Plano to give the Devils the early lead. New Haven hung tough for a while and tied the game after one period.
That was as close as the game would get as the Westies scored three goals in the second period. First, it was Nick Boanno unassisted, then Michael Kelly scored. Ben Carfora scored the next goal off a feed from Ryan Smith.
In the third period, Kelly scored another goal, and D.J. Carfora closed out the scoring. Joe Crisci was solid in the net, recording 23 saves. Joe D’Aurio and Justin Pniewski helped stabilize a solid defensive effort throughout the contest.
Saturday morning was no contest start to finish as the Devils dominated West Hartford. Boanno had another big game with four goals. Plano, Adrian Fielosh and Luca Ubaldi all contributed with goals.
Nick Link recorded the shutout stopping all 15 shots he faced. Joe Honcz, Mikey Alfano, and Andrew Wrzosek were on the attack in the offensive zone on every one of their shifts to help lead to the 9-0 blowout.
On Sunday, the Westies played a physical game against Northwestern. The Westies scored first as Peschell deflected a Buanno pass home, then Ryan Bernardi scored off passes from line mates Alfano and Wrzosek.
Ben Carfora and D.J. Carfora both added two goals, and line mate Steve Lewis added two assists. The 3-0 weekend improved the Bantams record to 11-5 on the season.

(October 22, 2107) - The West Haven Youth Hockey Mite A travel hockey team had an exceptional bounce back weekend. The weekend started with a comeback win over GNH A-1 team, led by the scoring from Aedan Guarino and solid defense of Kyle Guarino. 
Matt Ciccosanti led the scoring in the second win for the weekend against the Southeastern Seahawks Mite A team. Ethan Mazzocchi demonstrated his strong determination and puck handling skills throughout the weekend. 
The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team won two close games this weekend, defeating Yale AA 4-3 and ECHO 4-2.  The Westies raised their season record to 10-4-1 overall.
On Saturday morning at Bennett Rink, Brady Price recorded a hat trick and Zach Goetze had a goal and three assists to lead the Blue Devils past Yale.
Price opened the scoring by roofing Goetze's feed from behind the net 3:33 into the game.  After Yale tied it, Connor Moriarty hustled to keep the puck in the zone and passed to Goetze.  He slid it to Price, who was wide open on the right post and the goal made it 2-1 with 24 seconds left in the first. 
Yale again tied the score just over a minute into the second period.  Then, with 4:22 remaining in the period, Goetze hit Thomas Porto, who found Price on the right post to give West Haven a 3-2 advantage. 
The Westies increased the lead to 4-2 in the third when Sean Studley chipped ahead to Goetze, who deked and slid in a breakaway goal.  Yale made it 4-3 with two minutes to play. but Westies goaltender Jacob Silva finished off the game with several key saves.  Silva had 12 total saves in the game.
On Sunday, West Haven traveled to the Bolton Ice Center to face ECHO.  Studley had a hat trick and the Blue Devils earned a hard-fought 4-2 win in a physical contest.
Studley pounced on a rebound of Dylan Link's shot from the point and slammed the puck in for a 1-0 lead 1:15 into the game.  With the game tied in the final minute of the period, Moriarty passed to Ethan Kelly, who spun and hit Studley on his tape.  The winger snapped it home with 32 seconds left on the clock.
With the game now even at two in the third period, Studley then broke the tie with 3:21 to go.  He took Matthew Kelly's pass on the left boards, cut inside and wristed his shot off the right post and in.  Ethan Kelly iced the game with a nifty move on a breakaway, with Goetze and Dylan Bosworth assisting.  Silva made 15 clutch saves in goal for the Westies.
The West Haven Squirt B travel hockey team brought its record to 6-2 with a win over the Milford Stars this weekend.
Gavin Coady led the Westies with two goals and two assists.  Mike Riccelli, J.J. Hall and Tyler McColgan each added a goal to help the Westies to their 5-2 win.  Cameren Lipford added in two assists as well.
Next weekend the Westies faceoff against the Riverhawks at home on Saturday, then travel to Bridgeport to play Wonderland on Sunday.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 12-3-1 with a split of a pair of games this weekend.
The Westies opened the weekend with a 2-0 loss against Wonderland Saturday afternoon in Bridgeport. Despite solid defensive efforts by Bruno Martone, Sean Bosworth and Haygen Axelrod, and some stellar saves by Brendan Smith in goal, the Westies could not get on the scoreboard and fell 2-0 at the Wonderland of Ice.

Photo courtesy of Mike Madera.
West Haven then traveled to the Arena at Harbor Yard Sunday afternoon for a home game against Northeast and posted a 2-1 victory.
Smith was the story of the game as he made several outstanding saves throughout the contest. The defense, led by Axelrod, Bosworth, Jack Sellman, Jason Alling, and Martone, again played well in the victory.
With the game scoreless after two periods of play, Northeast took a 1-0 lead 3:45 into the third period. That lead did not last long as West Haven tied the contest 1:15 later when Shane Repetto scored in front off an assist from Dante Hardt for the equalizer.
The Westies pulled out the victory, scoring the winning goal with 2:02 remaining. Jayden Spreyer sent a perfect lead pass to Michael Madera on the wing. Madera came in on a partial breakaway and roofed a shot to the top right corner for the 2-1 advantage.
West Haven’s defense and Smith did the rest as the Westies held on for their twelfth victory of the year.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team split its games this weekend. The Westies started strong by hammering the Greenwich Blues 9-2, but then fell short against the Greenwich Skate Club 4-1 on Sunday Morning at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
On Saturday morning, it was a quick start for the Devils as they jumped all over Greenwich early and often. The Carfora brothers teamed up twice as Ben would set DJ up for two goals in the first period. Mikey Alfano scored off an assist from Andrew Wrzosek, and then he returned the favor seconds later as Wrzosek scored off an assist from Alfano.
Anthony Peschell rounded out the scoring in the first period off a helper from Luca Ubaldi. The Westies cruised home from there as Ubaldi, Ben Carfora and Joe D’Aurio all netted goals, and Nick Boanno and Joe Honcz added assists. Nick Link was solid between the pipes, making 14 saves.
On Sunday, the Westies played a home game at Webster Bank arena in Bridgeport. In a fast-paced game, the Devils got on the board first as Peschell tipped in a rebound off a shot from Ubaldi. The play was started by a heads up look from Michael Kelly. Joe Crisci made several key stops to keep the game close.

(October 15, 2017) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team defeated South Windsor 7-2 Sunday morning at the South Windsor Ice Arena behind Thomas Porto's hat trick and a strong performance from the defense.
Porto opened the scoring just 1:09 into the game with a wrist shot from the right circle.  Sean Studley then jammed home a loose puck from behind the net 40 seconds later to make it 2-0.
Zach Goetze scored on a breakaway three minutes into the second period for a 3-0 advantage.  After South Windsor scored with 1:50 left in the period to get within a pair of goals, Porto won a short-handed faceoff in the defensive zone and fed Goetze for a breakaway goal with one second left for a 4-1 lead.
South Windsor scored on the power play to open the third, but the Blue Devils closed out the scoring with the next three goals to put the game away.  Connor Moriarty fed Brady Price for a goal, Dylan Link hit Price, who passed ahead to Porto for a breakaway tally, and Link again assisted on another Porto breakaway goal.
Maddox LaFountain was solid in goal, making 12 saves for West Haven. Matthew Kelly, Dylan Bosworth, Moriarty and Link were stout on defense.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team split a pair of games this weekend, losing to Northwestern and topping Greater New Haven.
The Westies played host to Northwestern Saturday morning at the Edward L. Bennett Rink and fell 6-1. A slow start would hurt the Westies as Northwestern scored four times in the opening period and never looked back.
West Haven’s only goal came in the second period when Shane Repetto scored an unassisted goal 1:05 into the period to get the team within 4-1.
West Haven got back on the winning track Sunday afternoon with a 6-4 victory over Greater New Haven at the Northford Ice Pavilion. Dave Brown led the way with a goal and two assists, while Nolan Cole added a goal and an assist.
West Haven took a 1-0 lead with 5:40 left in the first period when Cole set up Cade Simone for a power play goal. Mickey Dowd gave the Westies a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded goal off an assist from Jack Sellman, before Greater New Haven scored the next three goals for a 4-2 advantage.
Cole started a string of four straight West Haven goals when he got the Westies back into the contest with an unassisted goal with 2:05 to go in the middle period, before Brown set up Kyle Droney for the equalizer 1:12 into the third. Brown put the Westies on top with 3:10 to go and Colin Deane added an insurance goal off an assist from Brown late in the contest.  

​Photo courtesy of Pat Fielosh.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team competed in the Steel City Shootout last weekend in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Despite posting an impressive 3-1 record, the Westies came away with only a fifth place consolation prize.
The Devils opened up against host team Lehigh Valley and dropped a 2-1 decision which would haunt them throughout the remainder of the tournament. The Westies tried to shake off the long drive to Pennsylvania but trailed throughout the game, scoring only at the buzzer of the third period on a goal by Steve Lewis which was assisted by Mike Alfano.
In the second game, with their backs to the wall, the Westies defeated the New Jersey Stars 6-4. Once again, it was Lewis leading the way with a pair of goals. Ben Carfora played a strong game, scoring one and assisting on two others. Nick Boanno, Nico Bruneau, and Ryan Bernardi rounded out the scoring, while Anthony Peschell added two assists. The West Haven defense chipped in also as Ryan Smith, Justin Pniewski, and Luca Ubaldi would all add helpers to the scoring column.
The third game was another must win and the Devils answered the call, defeating the Steel City Renegades 4-2. D.J. Carfora opened up the scoring, netting a goal with an assist from his brother Ben to give the Westies an early lead. Boanno scored next, giving the Devils a 2-0 advantage, but the previously undefeated Steel City team rebounded with the next two goals.
Ben Carfora tallied two in the third to lead the Westies to victory. Rocco Plano and Joe D’Aurio gave huge defensive efforts in helping lead their team to victory. Joe Crisci was solid in net all weekend.
The Westies fell short in the tie breaker and were forced to play a fifth place consolation game. That did not deter them as they dominated the New Jersey Stars 4-0. Nick Link led the way, posting the shutout. Michael Kelly scored a big goal and Jordan Fabula, Andrew Wrzosek, Adrien Felosh and Joey Honcz skated strong, helping deliver the win.

(October 8, 2017) - Thomas Porto and Zach Goetze each scored two goals to lead the West Haven Squirt A team to a 7-1 victory over the Jersey Colts in the Steel City Columbus Day Shootout championship on Monday at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
West Haven went 4-0 overall in the Shootout.  The Westies also outscored their opponents 41-2 and never trailed at any point in the four games.

Photo courtesy of Karen Studley.
In the championship game, defenseman Dylan Link opened the scoring 1:28 into the game with a laser from the point after Ethan Kelly fed Link with a faceoff win.  Porto knocked home a nice feed from Goetze at 3:52, before Ryan Pniewski gave the Blue Devils a 3-0 lead at 6:40 with Sean Studley and Ethan Kelly assisting.
The Colts converted a penalty shot with just under five minutes remaining in the period, before a breakaway and nifty move by Goetze gave the Westies a 4-1 lead at the first intermission. 
Both teams went scoreless in the second period as the West Haven defense, consisting of the pairings of Matthew Kelly with Link, and Dylan Bosworth with Connor Moriarty, clamped down on the Colts.
In the third, Porto made it 5-1 by depositing Goetze's pass at 4:21.  Two minutes later, Brady Price made a nice move at the blue line and roofed his breakaway for a 6-1 lead.  Goetze finished off Porto's assist to cap the scoring with 1:49 left in the game.
West Haven goaltender Jacob Silva made five saves in the game and was mobbed by his teammates as the final horn sounded.
In pool play, the Westies defeated the Hershey (PA) Jr. Bears 10-0 on Saturday afternoon.  On Sunday, they beat the Long Island (NY) Icecats 15-0 and the Jersey (NJ) Colts 9-1.
All ten skaters for West Haven scored at least one goal in the tournament.  Goetze led the team with 21 points (8 goals, 13 assists), Porto had 16 points (13 goals, 3 assists), Price had 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists), and Ethan Kelly had 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists). Sean Studley had seven points (2 goals, 5 assists), Dylan Link had six points (5 goals, 1 assist), Ryan Pniewski had three points (3 goals), while Matthew Kelly, Connor Moriarty, and Dylan Bosworth each had two points with one goal and one assist each.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team won the Steel City Columbus Day Shootout with a 4-0-1 record this past weekend in Pennsylvania.

Photo courtesy of Mike Madera.
The Westies entered Monday needing a win over Dix Hills, New York to reach the championship contest. Trailing by two goals, the Westies scored five unanswered goals to win 5-2.
Mickey Dowd cut the deficit in half off an assist from Cade Simone with 1:34 left in the first, Jayden Spreyer evened the game off an assist from Colin Deane 44 seconds into the second, and Dante Hardt scored a shorthanded goal with five minutes left in the second. Shane Repetto scored for a 4-2 lead with 8.5 seconds left in the second.
Michael Madera capped the scoring 1:16 into the third period when he scored off an assist from Simone. Brenda Smith made 19 saves in the win.
The Westies never trailed in winning the title game 4-2 over the same Dix Hills, New York team later in the afternoon at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Nolan Cole scored three times in the win, giving West Haven a 1-0 lead 47 seconds into the game off an assist from Deane, and a 2-1 lead off an assist from Spreyer with 6:05 left in the second. Cole’s unassisted tally put the Westies on top 3-2 two minutes into the third, before Dave Brown sealed the win with an empty net goal. Smith made 17 saves in the win.
West Haven opened the tournament with a 5-3 win over the Jersey Shore Wildcats. Dante Hardt and Cole led the offense with two goals apiece, while Kyle Droney also scored. Brown and Bruno Martone each had two assists, while Repetto and Madera picked up one assist apiece.
West Haven won its second game 8-1 over the Pottstown Penguins. Cole led the way with two goals and two assists, Madera scored twice, and Sean Bosworth, Spreyer, Repetto, and Simone each scored once. Dowd, Spreyer, and Deane each had two assists, while Bosworth, Hardt, and Jason Alling each picked up an assist.
West Haven also tied the Jersey Colts 4-4 with Deane, Bosworth, Brown and Simone scoring, and Simone also grabbing an assist.   

(October 1, 2017) - The West Haven Mite A travel hockey team had two strong wins this weekend. On Saturday, the Westies faced Northern Lights at the Edward L. Bennet Rink. The Westies followed on Sunday by traveling to West Point, New York to play against Army.
The team offense was highlighted by passes from Finn Moriarty. Luke Jaques made some great defensive plays, and Alex Werle was solid in goal.
The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team went 0-2-1 this past weekend.  The Westies hosted Greater New Haven A at Bennett Rink on Friday night and suffered a 6-1 defeat.  It was a 3-1 game into the third period before GNH pulled away late.  Thomas Porto scored the lone goal for West Haven, while Jacob Silva was solid between the pipes.
On Saturday morning, the Westies hosted South Windsor A and played to a 2-2 tie.  Porto and Zach Goetze each had a goal and assist for the Blue Devils. 
The Westies traveled to Stamford Twin Rinks for an early morning game on Sunday against Darien A1 and lost 9-5. 
Porto gave West Haven a 1-0 lead at the first intermission when he buried a loose puck two minutes into the game.  Darien made it 4-1, before Porto's power play goal with Goetze assisting cut the lead to two.  After another Darien goal, Porto just beat the second period buzzer with assists to Goetze and Brady Price for a 5-3 score.
Goetze put in a tough-angle shot with an assist to Porto 1:28 into the third period, and Silva saved a penalty shot two minutes later to give the Westies momentum.  But Darien scored four more in the period to put the game away.  Porto fed Goetze for a breakaway goal to account for the last West Haven tally.
The West Haven Squirt B travel hockey team faced off against the Wonderland Wizards in Bridgeport this Saturday and suffered a defeat.  While the Westies started the season off winning four of their first five games, they met defeat in a 13-0 loss to the Wizards.  The score may have been one-sided, but West Haven goalie Maddex Lafountain left it all on the ice by stopping 43 of the Wizards 56 shots on goal.
On Sunday, the Westies came back home to Bennett Rink and found the back of the net eleven times in an 11-1 victory over the Yale Junior Bulldogs. 
Showing the Westies the way with a combined 11 goals were centers, Cameren Lipford and Gavin Coady.  Adding assists each were J.J. Hall and Lucas Iversen.
The Squirt B's head to Bethlehem, PA for the Steel City Tournament next weekend.
The West Haven PeeWee A travel hockey team split a pair of games this weekend to move to 6-1 on the season.
The Westies improved to 6-0 with a 6-2 victory over West Hartford at Trinity. Jayden Spreyer led the offense with two goals and two assists, while Nolan Cole and Colin Deaneeach had a goal and an assist in the win. Kyle Droney and Dave Brown also scored for the Westies.
Spreyer gave West Haven a 1-0 lead 3:38 in off an assist from Cole, before Deane scored off assists from Spreyer and Sean Bosworth with 31.8 seconds left in the opening period.
Droney gave the Westies a 3-0 lead when he poked in a loose puck in the middle period. Cole scored a power play goal off assists from Deane and Spreyer with 10:08 to go, before Brown scored on a breakaway for a 5-1 advantage. Leading 5-2, Spreyer capped the scoring off an assist from Simone with 2:52 remaining in the game.
West Haven suffered its first defeat of the year with a 6-1 loss to Watertown at the Edward L. Bennett Rink Sunday morning. Watertwon took control of the game in the first period, scoring five times, four on the power play.
The Westies inched closer in the second period when Deane scored a short-handed goal off an assist from Michael Madera 4:44 in, but the Westies never got closer and fell to 6-1 on the year.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team defeated the Wonderland Wizards 6-1 on Saturday morning at Bennett Rink in West Haven.
The Westies started fast as Nick Boanno opened the scoring with a power play goal after receiving a nice pass from Steve Lewis. The Wizards answered by scoring the tying goal as the first period ended tied at one.
That is as close as the Wizards got the rest of the day as the Westies exploded for five second period goals. First, it was Ryan Smith scoring the first of his two goals on an unassisted play, then, it was the Carfora brothers combining for a goal as Ben Carfora cleaned up his brother D.J.’s work to put the Blue Devils up 3-0.
Michael Kelly and Rocco Plano scored the next two goals as the Westies went up 5-1 after two periods. Nico Bruneau closed out the scoring with the only goal of the third period as the Westies rolled to an easy victory.
Luca Ubaldi and Justin Pniewski helped lead a strong defensive team effort. Joe Crisci and Nick Link shared the netminding duties and both played well in stifling their opponent.

(September 24, 2017) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team split a pair of games this weekend.  On Saturday afternoon at the Northford Ice Pavilion, the Westies faced Yale Squirt AA and lost a close game 4-2.
Yale jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first four minutes, before the Blue Devils got back in the game.  Sean Studley found Dylan Bosworth at the blue line and the defenseman's blast made it 2-1.  
Thomas Porto fed Zach Goetze two minutes later and Goetze buried the breakaway to tie the game at two.  
The game remained tied throughout the first and second periods.  Yale regained the lead with just over seven minutes to go with a short-handed goal, then added another in the final minute for the final margin of victory. Jacob Silva was solid in net for the Westies.
On Sunday, the Blue Devils traveled back to the Northford Ice Pavilion to face the Greater New Haven Warriors A1 squad.  The Westies rebounded for a 6-4 win.
Goetze opened the scoring on a breakaway with Porto assisting before GNH tied the game at one just before the first intermission.  
The Westies took control of the game with three goals in the second period.  Goetze went five-hole in the first minute of the period with Brady Price getting the assist.  Price then buried a one-timer with a nice feed from Porto.  
Ethan Kelly knocked in a loose puck after Bosworth's shot to give West Haven a 4-1 lead heading into the final period.  GNH scored early to close the margin to 4-2, before Price gave West Haven another three-goal lead with a wrist shot from Porto.  Price then deflected Bosworth's shot to Porto, who knocked the puck in for the final West Haven tally.

The West Haven Squirt B travel hockey team continued its strong play this weekend with two wins over the Ridgefield Lions.
On Saturday, the Westies got their fourth win of the season in a 13-5 victory over the Lions. Cameren Lipford led the charge for the Westies with six goals and an assist.  Gavin Coady recorded a hat trick and an assist as well. 
Also scoring in the win were JJ Hall, Lucas Iversen and Christopher Consorte.  Adding assists were Gavin Fanelli, Sean Luxeder, Iversen and Consorte.
On Sunday, the Westies recorded their fifth win of the season with an 11-0 victory.  Coady showed the Westies the way with four goals and an assist, and also scoring for the Westies was Lipford with four goals. 
Tyler McColgan, Fanelli and Consorte each had a goal as well.  Contributing with assists were Iversen, Fanelli, Jack Francis, Luxeder and Michael Riccelli.Maddex Lafountain was a brick wall for the Westies on Sunday as he posted his first shutout of the season.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team improved to 5-0 with a pair of wins this weekend.
The Westies opened the week with a 6-2 victory over Southeastern Saturday morning at the Edward L. Bennett Rink in West Haven.
Mickey Dowd led the way with three goals, Jayden Spreyer and Dave Brown each added a goal and an assist, and Nolan Cole had two assists in the win. Brendan Smith made 14 saves in the win, including six in the opening period when Southeastern mounted heavy pressure.
Dowd gave the Westies a 1-0 lead when he scored off assists from Sean Bosworth and Cade Simone with 3:11 left in the opening period. Dowd picked up his second goal 5:07 into the second when he picked up a rebound of Brown’s shot.
Southeastern evened the game after two periods with the next two goals, but West Haven scored four times in the third to pick up its fourth victory of the season. Colin Deane scored the eventual winner when he scored in front off assists from Spreyer and Cole, before Cole set up Spreyer in front 2:57 later for a 4-2 advantage.
Brown went the length of the ice for an unassisted goal with 7:53 to go, and Dowd completed the hat trick with 2:34 left with an unassisted goal.  
West Haven picked up its second win of the weekend with a 9-1 home victory over Enfield Sunday morning. Deane led the way with two goals and an assist, Brown had two goals, Cole added a goal and two assists, and Spreyer, Simone, and Dowd each had a goal and an assist.
Spreyer gave the Westies a 1-0 lead 5:43 into the game off a rebound of Deane’s shot, Brown scored off assists from Dante Hardt and Shane Repetto 37 seconds later, and Cole set up Deane with 6:01 left. Simone rounded out the first period scoring with 4:08 left off an assist from Dowd.
Leading 4-1 in the second, Kyle Droney scored off an assist from Hardt, Dowd scored off assists from Simone and Michael Madera, and Cole increased the lead to 7-1 just 4:07 into the third. Deane scored off an assist from Spreyer, and Brown scored off an assist from Cole late in the game for the 9-1 final.
The West Haven 14U travel hockey team went to Norwich on Sunday to play Southeastern and lost a tough 4-3 decision.
The Westies started strong as Anthony Peschell opened the scoring off passes from linemates Joey Honcz and Adrien Fielosh. That goal was quickly followed when Michael Kelly netted the next goal with an assist from Nick Boanno to give the Westies a 2-0 lead just three minutes into the game.
Southeastern answered with the next three goals, before Ryan Smith tied the game for West Haven early in the third period with assists going to Joe D’Aurio and Fielosh. The tie did not last long as Southeastern scored last and hung on for the win, handing the Blue Devils their first loss of the season.
The Westies pressured the Southeastern net minder late but could not get the tying goal. Joe Crisci made several key saves for West Haven.

(September 17, 2017) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team split a pair of home games this weekend at Bennett Rink. On Saturday morning, the Westies faced the Wonderland Wizards and lost 3-0. Both goaltenders were solid, including West Haven's Jacob Silva, in an evenly played game.
On Sunday, the Westies hosted the Greater New Haven Warriors and dominated in a 7-1 win. The Blue Devils opened the scoring when Dylan Bosworth's shot from the point deflected to Zach Goetze, who buried the loose puck. After Greater New Haven tied the game, Brady Price knocked in Goetze's pass to give West Haven a 2-1 lead at the first intermission. 
The Westies blew it open in the second period. Thomas Porto fed Goetze for a backhander, before scoring on a breakaway himself to make it 4-1. Porto fed Goetze for another backhand goal with 4:26 left in the second, and Goetze returned the favor just ten seconds later, feeding Porto in the slot. The Westies completed the scoring in the third period when defenseman Dylan Link carried the puck from his own end and cashed in for the 7-1 advantage. 
Goetze led the way with three goals and three assists, Porto added two goals and one assist, Price had one goal and one assist, and Link finished the scoring with one goal and one assist. Bosworth also had two assists. 
The West Haven Squirt B travel hockey team started the season off strong this past weekend with a 12-2 win over Hamden.  The Westies carried the momentum into this weekend with an 8-2 win over Echo, before suffering a 3-2 loss to Enfield.
Contributing to the West Haven goals against Hamden were Cameren Lipford with eight, Gavin Coady with two, and Gavin Fanelli and Christopher Consorte with one apiece.  Adding assists were Sean Luxeder, Jack Francis, Michael Riccelli, Fanelli and Tyler McColgan.
Contributing to the Westies’ goals against Echo were Lipford with four, J.J. Hall with three and Coady with one.  Adding assists were Coady, Francis, Consorte, Treat and Lipford.
Lipford scored both West Haven goals against Enfield, while J.J. Hall added an assist. Maddex Lafountain has played strong in goal for the Westies, only giving up a pair of goals in each of the Hamden and Echo contests, then three against Enfield.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team improved to 3-0 on the season with a pair of victories this weekend. The Westies opened the weekend with a 6-1 victory over Putnam, New York, and closed it with a 4-1 victory over Central.
Traveling to play Putnam on Saturday, the Westies received a balanced scoring attack as nine different players got into the scoring column. Jayden Spreyer led the way with a goal and an assist, while Michael Madera added two assists.
Dave Brown got the Westies going with a blast from the point for a 1-0 lead late in the first, before Putnam evened the game less than two minutes into the second. West Haven took the lead for good with seven minutes to go in the second as Dante Hardt set up Kyle Droney for a 2-1 advantage.
The Westies put the game out of reach with four more goals in the third period. Nolan Cole gave the Westies a two-goal lead off an assist from Spreyer with 8:22 left in the third, and Cade Simone scored off an assist from Madera with 6:09 left for a 4-1 lead.
Spreyer gave the Westies a 5-1 lead off an assist from Jason Alling with 2:23 to go, before Mickey Dowd scored off an assist from Madera with 21 seconds left in the game. Brendan Smith made eight saves in the win for West Haven, while Colin Deane also played well offensively for the Westies.
The Westies picked up their third win of the season Sunday when they topped Central 4-1 at the Edward L. Bennett Rink in West Haven.
Smith was superb in goal, making 11 saves to pick up his second win of the weekend. He was aided by the stellar defensive play in front by Brown, Sean Bosworth, Alling, Bruno Martone, and Haygen Axelrod.
Cole again got the Westies on the scoreboard first when he scored off an assist from Spreyer less than a minute into the contest. After Central evened the game with a power play goal, the line of Simone, Dowd, and Madera helped give the Westies some cushion after one period.
With 4:49 remaining in the period, Dowd scored off assists from Simone and Madera, before the trio worked again to give West Haven a 3-1 lead as Dowd again scored off assists from Madera and Simone.
The score remained that way until 2:04 remained in the game when Simone increased the lead to 4-1 off assists from Madera and Dowd. Shane Repetto also was solid offensively for West Haven.
Dowd finished with two goals and an assist, Simone had a goal and two assists, and Madera had three assists in the win. 

WH Youth Hockey Opening Day
(September 10, 2017) - The West Haven Youth Hockey opened the season with a winter classic as all teams faced Hamden Sunday.
In West Haven Squirt A action on Opening Faceoff weekend against Hamden, West Haven posted a 5-3 victory. The Westies fell behind 2-0 after the first period, but Zach Goetze scored an unassisted goal 1:24 into the second period to get the Blue Devils on the scoreboard. Two minutes later, Thomas Porto scored on a power play to the the game at two and Goetze gave the Westies the lead at 7:37 of the period with Porto getting the assist.
West Haven goaltender Jacob Silva made a nice pad save and then a sparkling glove save to keep the home team in front at the second intermission. Hamden eventually evened the score at three 4:05 into the final period on a breakaway. Goetze gave the Westies the lead again with a nifty backhand goal on a power play with Brady Price assisting. Porto helped round out the scoring when he fed Goetze for a breakaway goal with just over one minute to play to seal the 5-3 victory for West Haven.
The West Haven Peewee A hockey team opened its season with a 9-1 victory over Hamden. Ten different players got into the scoring column in the win, Brendan Smith made 10 saves in goal, and the defense of Bruno Martone, Sean Bosworth, Jason Alling, Haygen Axelrod and Dave Brown kept the Green Dragons off the scoreboard.
Jayden Spreyer led the offense with four goals, Nolan Cole had two goals and an assist, Colin Deane had three assists, Cade Simone had a goal and two assists, and Bosworth and Michael Madera each had a goal and an assist.
Hamden opened the scoring with a power play goal six minutes into the game, but West Haven scored the next two in the period and nine overall. Spreyer started his big day with a goal off assists from Cole and Deane with 3:32 left in the first, before Bosworth scored a power play goal off assists from Axelrod and Shane Repetto.
The Westies increased the lead to 7-1 with five more goals in the second. Madera made it 4-1 with a goal off assists from Simone and Mickey Dowd, Cole scored an unassisted goal 3:30 later, and Simone made it 6-1 off assists from Madera and Bosworth. Just 12 seconds later, Spreyer scored an unassisted goal for a 7-1 lead.
Simone set up Spreyer for a shorthanded goal, and Cole scored his second of the game off assists from Dante Hardt and Deane. Kyle Droney also played well for the Westies in the win.​​

West Haven Youth Hockey Board members stand with Eric Boguniecki on Eric Boguniecki Day at the Edward L. Bennett Rink, Sunday, November 12, 2017. Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.

(March 12, 2018) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team concluded the 2017-18 season by competing in the Connecticut 10U Squirt Tier 3 state championships last weekend at the Danbury Ice Arena.  The Blue Devils were the No. 9 seed in the 12-team tournament and went 0-2-1 in round robin play.
West Haven finished its successful season with a 32-16-4 overall record.  Highlights from the campaign include a 17-game winning streak, winning the 2017 Steel City (PA) Columbus Day Shootout championship, earning the No. 1 seed and advancing to the semifinals of the 2018 Ocean State (RI) Classic, sweeping Hamden in the "Winter Classic" home and away, and defeating Ridgefield at the Barclays Center (NY), the home ice of the New York Islanders.
The Westies opened play in the Tier 3 state championship tournament on Friday night facing the top seed, Avon A.  Avon had defeated the Blue Devils three times during the season, including 5-2 and 7-1 wins in the last two weeks.  Avon jumped on the scoreboard early by scoring just nine seconds into the game.  The Westies did not flinch though and worked to tie the score at 1-1 with 2:54 left in the period.  Thomas Porto's initial shot was saved but Zach Goetze pounced on the rebound and backhanded the puck in the net.
Jacob Silva was brilliant in net during the second period as he turned away 14 shots and kept it knotted at 1-1.  The score remained tied until West Haven went on a power play with two minutes left in the game, setting up a wild finish.  Despite the man advantage, it was Avon who capitalized with a short-handed goal with 1:52 remaining. 
West Haven continued to apply pressure and, just as the penalty expired, Dylan Bosworth's shot from the right point deflected up and over the goalie to even it again at 2-2.  Thirty seconds later, Porto cashed in another rebound, with Ethan Kelly and Goetze assisting, and the Westies went up 3-2.  But Avon tallied with 10.5 seconds remaining in the game and each team earned a point in the standings. Silva finished with a total of 33 saves.
With a short turnaround, the Westies faced fifth-seeded ECHO A early Saturday morning. The Blue Devils opened the scoring in the first period when Goetze picked the pocket of a defenseman and fed Brady Price in front.  Price roofed the puck for a 1-0 lead 4:53 into the game. 
The Blue Devils extended the lead to 2-0 about five minutes later.  Matthew Kelly slid the puck ahead to Goetze who raced in and backhanded it toward the net.  Porto calmly collected the puck and cooly deposited it in the back of the cage with 2:38 remaining in the first.
ECHO scored a power play goal 3:33 into the second period and then tied the game at 2-2 with 1:32 left in the second.  In the final minute, Goetze fired a shot from distance that the goalie could not handle and Porto flew in to tap home the loose puck and give the Westies a 3-2 lead going into the third period. 
Goetze was just wide, Sean Studley just missed a one-timer from Ethan Kelly, and Porto rang one off the post as the Westies tried to add to the lead in the third.  ECHO tied the game and took the lead with a pair of goals in the final three minutes, and then added an empty netter in the final seconds, for the hard-fought, 5-3 decision.  Silva was again outstanding in net for West Haven and kept the team in the game with 29 saves.
Later on Saturday, the Westies faced the Wonderland Wizards A team in a must-win game to advance to the cross-overs.  The Wizards blanked the Westies, 7-0, just a few weeks earlier.  Undaunted, the Blue Devils showed their character by playing spirited hockey at both ends of the rink.  Silva was strong again and made several spectacular saves throughout the game.
Despite being down 2-0 midway through the second period and having lost Bosworth to an injury, the Westies would not give in.  On a power play, Goetze found Porto in the left circle and Porto went five-hole to cut the Wizards' lead to 2-1.  The Wizards scored twice more, and had a 4-1 lead in the third period, but again the Westies refused to quit.  Studley won a battle for the puck along the boards and sent it ahead to Ethan Kelly.  Kelly deked through two defenders and fired home a wrist shot to cut the lead to 4-2.  The Wizards eventually scored the final goal and ended the Westies' season with a 5-2 result.  Silva finished the game with 36 saves.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team concluded its season in the Tier 3 state tournament at the Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport this past weekend. The Westies were 0-1-2 in the tournament and missed the quarterfinals by one point.
West Haven opened the tournament with a 2-2 tie against the fourth-seeded Norwalk Roughriders. West Haven took a 1-0 lead when Mickey Dowd scored on a breakaway with 5:12 left in the opening period, but Norwalk scored twice in one minute to take a 2- 1 lead with 3:15 left in the opening period.

Photo courtesy of Mike Madera.
Despite solid play by both teams, the score remained that way until the closing seconds. Nolan Cole picked up a loose puck off the boards, broke in and scored with 5.9 seconds remaining in regulation to even the game at two.
The Westies returned to action Friday evening in Bridgeport and played fifth-seeded Wallingford. After a scoreless first period in which goaltender Brendan Smith was outstanding with several big saves, Wallingford took a 1-0 lead with a power play goal 3:18 into the second.
West Haven evened the game with 4:05 left in the middle period when Colin Deane chipped the puck ahead to Nolan Cole. Cole streaked down the right side and fed a perfect pass across the crease which Michael Madera directed in for the equalizer.
West Haven had some golden opportunities in the final 15 minutes, but could not capitalize.

Needing a win on Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals, West Haven fell to Ridgefield AA. Madera scored the lone West Haven goal when he knocked in a rebound of a Deane short in the third period. 

(March 5, 2018) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team lost its regular season finale, 7-1, to Avon A. Ethan Kelly scored the lone Blue Devils goal when he deflected in a shot from the point by Dylan Link.

The Westies are now 32-14-3 overall. West Haven begins the Tier 3 state playoffs Thursday night at the Danbury Ice Arena.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 30-19-5 with a split of its two games this past weekend. The Westies opened with a loss at Greater New Haven, before rebounding to top South Windsor at home.
The Westies opened the weekend at the Northford Ice Pavilion against Greater New Haven and fell 4-3. Down 2-0 just 1 minute, 49 seconds into the game, the Westies battled back to even the game at two after one period of play.
Just 14 seconds after Greater New Haven took a 2-0 lead, Michael Madera sent Mickey Dowd in on a two-on-one break with Dante Hardt. Dowd fed Hardt who scored to cut the deficit in half.
West Haven evened the game at two when Jason Alling found Jayden Spreyer, who rang a shot off the post and in for the equalizer. The Westies took a 3-2 lead as Dave Brown stole the puck, beat two defenders and scored.
Greater New Haven evened the game with 8:29 left in the second, and despite a valiant effort killing off a two-man down situation by Colin Deane, Jack Sellman, and Haygen Axelrod, West Haven fell when Greater New Haven scored with two minutes remaining in the game.
The Westies rebounded on Sunday for a 6-5 win over South Windsor. Trailing 2-0, West Haven cut the deficit in half when Brown scored a power play goal off an assist from Deane.
West Haven trailed 3-1 before Sean Bosworth scored a power play goal on a two-man advantage. Shane Repetto followed a short time later when he scored off assists from Sellman and Bruno Martone with 11:20 remaining in the middle period.
South Windsor responded to take the lead again 56 seconds later, but Spreyer evened the game with a wrist shot from the wing off an assist from Nolan Cole 13 seconds later.
South Windsor took a 5-4 lead with 2:47 left in the second, but West Haven scored the only two goals of the third period as Brendan Smith was sharp in goal in the final period.
Madera evened the game with 6:02 remaining in the third when he picked up a rebound of a Deane shot and scored after a steal by Deane.
Down a man, the Westies took the lead for good with 3:27 to go. Dowd picked up a loose puck off the draw, raced into the offensive zone and fired a shot home for the win. 

(February 26, 2018) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team dropped its only game of the weekend, losing 5-2 to Avon A, at Edward L. Bennett Rink on Saturday morning.  The Westies are now 32-13-3 overall.

Thomas Porto got the Blue Devils going in the opening period when he sliced through the Avon defense and wristed the puck home for a 1-0 lead 3:36 into the contest. Avon scored the next five goals of the game and had a 5-1 lead early in the third period.
Sean Studley's slick redirection of Dylan Link's shot from the right point made the score 5-2 with two minutes left in the game.  Jacob Silva had 22 saves in net for the Westies.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team fell to 29-18-5 after losing a pair of games this weekend. The Westies opened the week with a 4-1 loss against New Canaan, and closed the weekend with a 6-2 loss against Wallingford.
Trailing 2-0 Saturday afternoon against New Canaan in Darien, the Westies got within 2-1 in the second period when Shane Repetto’s shot was stopped, but Jayden Spreyer knocked in the rebound. West Haven never got closer as New Canaan scored twice in the final period to win by three.
The Westies played host to Wallingford on Sunday, and again got within a goal twice, before falling at the Edward L. Bennett Rink. Spreyer and Madera led the offense with two assists apiece.
Trailing 2-0 after one period, West Haven inched closer when Spreyer fed Michael Madera in front. Madera spun and fed an open Colin Deane just 32 seconds into the middle period to cut the deficit in half.
Wallingford scored three power play goals in the game and took a 3-1 lead with a power play goal with 3:53 remaining in the second.
The Westies again got within a goal when Madera fed Jack Sellman at the point, and the defenseman’s shot found the back of the net with two minutes left in the second. Spreyer, who dug the puck out of the corner, also picked up an assist on Sellman’s goal.
Wallingford put the game away with three goals in the third, two coming in a span of 1:47to give the guests a 5-2 lead.  

(February 19, 2018) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team earned the top seed in the Squirt AA bracket and advanced to the semifinals of the 2018 Ocean State Classic in Rhode Island over the holiday weekend. They were eliminated after losing a thrilling, 5-4 game to the Boston Vipers. They finished the tournament with a 4-1 record and now stand 32-12-3 on the season.
In the semifinals at Benny Magiera Rink in West Warwick, the Blue Devils staged a furious, third period comeback against the Vipers, a Tier 1 team, but fell just short. Down 4-1 entering the final period, Zach Goetze made it 4-2 when he slammed home a rebound of Dylan Link's shot just 48 seconds into the period. Brady Price cut the lead to one with 4:52 left in the game when he slipped in a back hand goal with Goetze assisting.
A Viper goal made it 5-3, but the Westies pulled goalie Jacob Silva and turned up the pressure in the final 90 seconds. On a power play with six skaters out, Thomas Porto snapped a rising wrist shot just under the bar to make it 5-4 with 37 seconds left.
The Westies continued to apply pressure, but could not find the equalizer. Silva was solid in net with 26 saves in the game. Ryan Pniewski scored for West Haven in the second period when he jammed in a loose puck after the Viper goalie could not handle Dylan Bosworth's initial shot.
West Haven earned the top seed by going 4-0 in round robin action.  The signature win came on Sunday afternoon at Brown University's Meehan Auditorium where the Westies faced off with the Providence Junior Friars, a top Tier 1 team in the region and eventual OSC tourney champions.
In a fantastic game, the Westies topped the Friars, 6-4.  Silva was outstanding in net, and even recorded an assist. Ethan Kelly and Price scored two goals apiece.  Porto and Goetze also scored goals.  Silva made 31 saves, including three breakaway stops, in the win.
The Westies began play on Friday with a convincing 7-0 win over Boston Jr. Huskies at Thayer Arena in Warwick.  Goetze led the way with two goals and three assists.  Porto added two goals along with a pair of assists.  Price scored twice, Connor Moriarty added a goal, while Matthew Kelly and Link each had an assist.  Silva turned away 13 shots for the shutout.
On Saturday at Dennis Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, the Blue Devils knocked off the Boston Vipers 7-4.  Goetze (two goals) and Porto (one) made it 3-0 Westies just over two minutes into the game.  Goals by Goetze, Price, and Goetze again made it 6-1 after two periods.  After the Vipers cut it to 6-4, Porto scored on a terrific individual effort while being dragged down to thwart the comeback.  Silva had 19 saves.
On Sunday morning at Benny Magiera Rink, the Westies took down the Springfield Junior Thunderbirds by a 4-0 result.  Goal scorers were Price, Matthew Kelly, Porto and Goetze.  Bosworth, Link and Pniewski added assists.  Sean Studley took six shots and played spirited hockey at both ends of the ice. Silva stopped 13 shots.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team played well this past weekend, advancing to the Ocean State Classic (Rhode Island) semifinals, before falling 3-0 to the Sound Tigers of Long Island, New York. After dropping the opening game of the tournament 1-0 against the Minuteman Flames Friday morning, the Westies bounced back in fine fashion, winning the next three games.  
West Haven rebounded Friday afternoon with a 5-0 victory over the Providence Jr. Friars. Jayden Spreyer led the way with four goals, while Michael Madera and Dante Hardt each had three assists. Brendan Smith made 14 saves to pick up the shutout victory.
Spreyer opened the scoring with an unassisted goal 2:26 into the contest for a 1-0 lead, before Kyle Droney scored off an assist from Cade Simone 1:20 later for a 2-0 advantage. Spreyer rounded out the scoring in the opening period off assists from Madera and Hardt.
West Haven took a 4-0 lead just 1:14 into the second period when Madera set up Spreyer in front with an assist also going to Hardt. Spreyer's fourth goal of the contest again came in front after Hardt fed Madera and Madera's pass from behind the net was one-timed home by Spreyer.  
The Westies improved to 2-1 with a 3-1 victory over the Rhode Island Hitmen Saturday morning. Nolan Cole got the Westies on the board with 3:11 remaining in the first period as he picked up a loose puck and scored unassisted for a 1-0 advantage.
West Haven scored twice in the second period to take a 3-0 lead. Simone increased the lead to a pair of goals when he scored in front off assists from Droney and Colin Deane with 6:24 left in the middle period, and Dave Brown went the length of the ice for an unassisted tally with 2:47 to go in the second for a 3-0 advantage. The Hitmen scored with 7:37 left in the third, but a solid defensive effort by Brown, Bruno Martone, Sean Bosworth, Jack Sellman, Jason Alling and Haygen Axelrod, coupled with several big saves from Smith propelled the Westies to the win.
The Westies advanced to the semifinals with a 7-2 victory over the Stoneham Spartans Saturday evening. Cole and Madera led the offense as each had two goals and an assist. Brown had two assists, and Shane Repetto had a goal and an assist as ten players reached the scoring column.
The Westies struck early, scoring the first five goals of the contest. Cole gave the Westies a 1-0 lead off an assist from Repetto 1:09 into the game, and Madera scored an unassisted goal 3:55 later for a 2-0 lead after one period.
Bosworth increased the advantage to three goals with 5:01 left in the second off assists from Deane and Simone, before Repetto gave the Westies a 4-0 advantage off assists from Axelrod and Cole. Spreyer capped the second period scoring off a perfect give-and-go with Madera as Brown also assisted with 3:30 left in the middle period.
After Stoneham scored the next two goals, Madera increased the lead back to four goals off an assist from Brown with 3:19 left in the game, before Cole scored on a breakaway off an assist from Hardt with six seconds left in the game. Mickey Dowd also played well in the win. 

(February 12, 2018)- The West Haven Squirt A hockey team split a pair of games this weekend.  The Westies lost a close game, 3-2, to Yale 2008 AA on Saturday, before rebounding to defeat the Springfield (MA) Junior Thunderbirds, 8-4, on Sunday.  West Haven is now 28-11-3 on the season. 
On Saturday morning at the Edward L Bennett Rink, Yale converted a breakaway with 47 seconds left in the game for a comeback, 3-2 win over the Blue Devils.
Brady Price gave the Westies a 1-0 lead in the final minute of the first period as Zach Goetze passed back to defenseman Dylan Bosworth and Price neatly redirected Bosworth's point shot. In the second period, Goetze passed ahead to Thomas Porto who faked a centering pass and fired a wrist shot past the goalie for a 2-0 West Haven advantage. 
Yale scored one in the second and two more in the third to earn the win.  The Blue Devils did not go quietly as West Haven had two shots ring off the post and Price was robbed by a stick save off a rebound shot.  Goaltender Jacob Silva made 18 saves in the game including nine in the third period.
On Sunday in Enfield against the Thunderbirds, Porto led the way with four goals and Dylan Link added three assists in West Haven's 8-4 win.
Porto scored twice in the opening period and Goetze tallied in the second as West Haven opened a 3-2 lead entering the third period.  The Westies then exploded for five goals in the final 12 minutes to pull away for the victory.
Porto scored twice more, Goetze added another, Ethan Kelly scored an unassisted goal, and Price added one to finish the scoring.  Ryan Pniewski, Price and Goetze recorded assists while Link led the way with three helpers.  Silva had 15 saves in net for the Westies.
West Haven will compete at the 2018 Ocean State Classic this coming weekend in Rhode Island. 
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 26-14-5 with a split of two games this weekend. The Westies opened with a victory at Avon Old Farms on Saturday, before falling at home against New Canaan on Sunday.
West Haven opened the week with a 2-1 victory over Avon. Bruno Martone led the Westies with a goal and an assist in the win.
After a scoreless first period, the Westies got on the board first when Mickey Dowd was sent on a breakaway by Colin Deane and scored with 9:30 left in the second. Martone also assisted on the tally.
The Westies increased the margin to a pair of goals with 6:39 left in the second on the power play. Michael Madera sent a pass to the point to Dave Brown who found an open Martone at the right point. Martone fired through traffic in front for the two-goal lead.
Avon cut the deficit in half less than a minute later, but stellar goaltending from Brendan Smith and a penalty kill with West Haven two men down propelled West Haven to the win.
The Westies then returned home to play New Canaan Sunday morning and fell in a tight contest, 6-5, at the Edward L. Bennett Rink. Deane led the way with a pair of goals, while Brown added a goal and three assists.
Deane gave West Haven a 1-0 lead with 6:03 left in the first, scoring off a rebound of a Brown shot. Trailing 2-1, Cade Simone one-timed a pass from Brown home to even the game with 9:34 left in the second. Just 49 seconds later, Deane scored an unassisted goal from the slot for a 3-2 West Haven lead.
With the game even at three, Shane Repetto gave the Westies a one-goal lead in front just 24 seconds into the third off assists from Kyle Droney and Brown.
New Canaan took the lead for good with three goals in 1:30 for a 6-4 advantage with 11:02 to go. West Haven got within a goal when Brown scored in front off assists from Simone and Madera with 3:41 to go, but the Westies could not get the equalizer.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team had a win and a tie in its games this past weekend. On Saturday, the Westies defeated New Canaan 6-0, before rallying late to tie the Whalers 5-5.

Photo courtesy of Pat Fielosh.
On Saturday morning against New Canaan, the Westies controlled play early in what was a fast paced game. Mikey Alfano put the Devils up in the first period with a goal that was assisted by Joe Honcz.
In the second period, the Westies turned up the pressure. Nico Bruneau put home a rebound from a Ben Carfora shot which was set up by DJ Carfora’s pass. Bruneau then returned the favor, assisting on Ben Carfora’s goal to give the Westies a 3-0 advantage after the second period.
The Devils continued their relentless style of play in the third period. Ben Carfora scored his second of the game on an assist from Anthony Peschell, then the Alfano- Honcz combination put two more goals home, each assisting on the other’s goal, while Justin Pniewski assisted on both goals and Adrian Feliosh grabbed an assist as well. Joe Crisci stopped all 26 shots he faced for the shut out.
On Sunday, the Devils started quickly against the Whalers on the road in Cromwell. Alfano started the game again with an unassisted goal, Ben Carfora netted the next one with an assist from Feliosh, and Nico Bruneau rounded out the first period scoring on a goal with assists going to Andrew Wrzosek and Luca Ubaldi.
The Westies gave up three power play goals in the second period as a 3-1 lead turned into a 5-3 deficit. Carfora was able to lead the comeback charge in the third period, netting two for a hat trick, and the Westies came away with the tie. 

(February 5, 2018) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team came back to force a 3-3 tie against the Wonderland Wizards A1 at the Wonderland of Ice on Saturday.  Zach Goetze redirected in a Dylan Link shot from the point with just 1:25 left in the game for the tying tally.  West Haven is now 27-10-3 on the season.
Down 1-0 in the first period, Thomas Porto passed to Brady Price who found Goetze on the doorstep for a tap-in.  The score knotted it at 1-1 with 38 seconds left in the period.
Four minutes into the second period, Goetze picked the pocket of a defender and crashed the net to make it 2-1 in favor of the Westies.
The Wizards scored a pair of third period goals within two minutes of each other to regain the lead.  Ethan Kelly then drew a penalty with 1:30 left in the game to set up the Blue Devils. 
After a timeout, the Westies pulled the goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage.  Porto won the faceoff to Link, and Goetze finished off his hat trick with some nice stick work.  Jacob Silva had 13 saves in net for the Westies. 
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 25-13-5 with a split of two road games this weekend. West Haven opened with a win over Greater New Haven before falling to Northwestern.
The Westies opened the week on Saturday with a hard fought 6-1 victory over Greater New Haven at the Northford Ice Pavilion. Brendan Smith was the story of the game as he made 33 saves, including 15 in the first period.
Dante Hardt led the offense with two goals, while Jayden Spreyer and Nolan Cole each had a goal and an assist.
Spreyer gave the Westies a 1-0 lead 5:02 into the game when he scored off assists from Bruno Martone and Michael Madera. Greater New Haven evened the game 2:33 later, but the Westies took over in the second period.
Hardt scored the first of his two goals with an unassisted tally for a 2-1 lead with 9:50 remaining in the middle period, before West Haven’s special teams took over in the third period.
Killing off a penalty, the Westies scored two goals for a 4-1 advantage. Mickey Dowd came off the left wing and scored 6:46 into the third, and Dave Brown followed with a laser 35 seconds later off an assist from Smith.
West Haven put the game away with two goals in the final 5:57. Cole scored off an assist from Kyle Droney, and Hardt capped the scoring off assists from Spreyer and Cole.
The Westies traveled to the Gunnery Sunday morning to take on the fifth-ranked team in the state. In what was a tight contest until the final eight minutes, West Haven fell 7-2.
After a scoreless first period, Cole gave West Haven a 1-0 lead 5:48 into the second when he forced a turnover and raced in for an unassisted goal. Northwestern evened the game 2:47 later, then took a 2-1 lead on a two-man advantage with 4:19 left in the second.
The game remained a one-goal contest until Northwestern scored another power play goal early in the third. West Haven again got within a goal as Dowd sent in Brown on a breakaway to get within 3-2 with 10:20 to go.
Any momentum West Haven had quickly faded when Northwestern scored 26 seconds later for a4-2 lead. Northwestern put the game away with three goals in the final five minutes. 

(January 29, 2018) - The West Haven Squirt A hockey team dropped both games this weekend and fell to 27-10-2 on the season.  The Westies lost, 9-4, to Yale AA on Saturday before losing, 7-0, to Wizards A on Sunday.
On Saturday morning at Edward L Bennett Rink against a strong Yale team, the Westies played a solid opening period and grabbed the early lead. 
Zach Goetze hit Brady Price who slid the puck to Thomas Porto for a tap-in, power play goal giving West Haven a 1-0 lead 5:23 into the game.  Just over a minute later, Goetze carried down the right side and centered to Ethan Kelly.  Kelly's initial shot was saved, but Price jammed in the rebound for a 2-0 lead.  Yale capitalized on a giveaway with 13 seconds left and it was 2-1 Westies after one as Blue Devils goalie Jacob Silva was brilliant in the period, making several great saves.
Goetze scored on a breakaway from Porto early in the second period for a 3-1 advantage, but midway through the period, penalties derailed the Blue Devils. Yale scored five goals while on the man-advantage, and added an even-strength tally to take a 7-3 lead into the second intermission. 
Yale scored twice more in the third, while Goetze fed Porto for a power-play goal with three minutes to play to make the final score 9-4. Silva finished with 31 saves in total.
On Sunday at Wonderland of Ice, the Westies ran into a buzz saw against the Wizards A team.  Silva made 26 saves, but the offense was held in check and West Haven lost 7-0.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 24-12-5 with a loss and a tie this weekend. The Westies opened the week with a 7-0 loss against Greenwich, then rallied to tie Putnam, New York, 2-2.
With the game close on the road against Greenwich Saturday evening, the Westies watched the game slip away in the second period of what became a one-sided loss.
West Haven rebounded with a solid effort Sunday morning at the Edward L. Bennett Rink to tie Putnam. The Westies took a 1-0 lead 4:20 into the contest when Dante Hardt scored in front off a pass from Nolan Cole. Putan responded with a pair of goals 2:17 apart to take a 2-1 lead after one period of play.
West Haven battled and evened the game late in the second period as Michael Madera fed Jayden Spreyer to even the game at two with 2:52 left in the period.
The Westies had plenty of scoring chances the rest of the way, but could not find the back of the net as the game ended in a tie. 

(January 22, 2018) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team ran its winning streak to four straight games with an 8-0 shutout of Mid Fairfield Stars Girls 10U on Saturday morning at Edward L Bennett Rink.  Brady Price had a hat trick, while Dylan Link posted three assists in the win.  The Westies are now 27-8-2 on the season.
Two minutes into the game, Thomas Porto won a faceoff to the point where Link fired a shot.  Zach Goetze pounced on the rebound and West Haven led 1-0.  Two minutes later, Link again unloaded from the point and Price redirected the puck in for a 2-0 lead. 
Off the ensuing faceoff, Ethan Kelly skated into the offensive zone and found Sean Studley for a one-timer and a three-goal lead.  Price closed the first period scoring when he redirected in Connor Moriarty's point shot with Porto also assisting.
Ethan Kelly redirected in yet another laser from the point by Link for a 5-0 lead halfway through the second period with Ryan Pniewski also garnering an assist.  Studley jammed in a loose puck on the doorstep in the final minute for a six-goal lead at the second intermission. 
Price notched his hat trick when he stuffed in a rebound of Matthew Kelly's sharp wrist shot with five minutes left in the game.  Ethan Kelly completed the scoring when he came from behind the net to tally and make the final score 8-0.  Goaltender Jacob Silva made eight saves to pick up the shutout.
The West Haven Squirt B travel hockey team split a pair of games with the South Windsor Knights this weekend.
On Saturday, despite Maddex Lafountain's solid efforts in net with 30 saves, the Blue Devils lost 6-1.  Cameren Lipford had West Haven’s only goal.
The Westies bounced back on Sunday with a 5-2 win over the Knights.  Lipford had four goals, while Tyler McColgan added a goal and an assist.  Chris Consorte, Rafi Treat, Gavin Coady and J.J. Hall each had an assist as well.

Photo courtesy of Mike Madera.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team improved to 26-11-4 with a sweep of its two games this past weekend. The Westies rallied from behind in home victories over South Windsor and New Rochelle, New York.
In the opener of the weekend, the Westies trailed South Windsor by a pair of goals, before rallying for a 6-3 victory. Colin Deane led the West Haven offense with two goals and two assists, while Kyle Droney added a pair of goals.
Droney gave West Haven a 1-0 lead just 58 seconds into the game off an assist from Deane, but South Windsor scored the next three goals to take a 3-1 lead less than a minute into the second period. Just nine seconds after South Windsor took a two-goal lead, Jayden Spreyer got West Haven within a goal with an unassisted tally.
Deane evened the game when he scored off an assist from Dante Hardt with 3:34 gone by in the middle period, and Cade Simone gave West Haven the lead for good off an assist from Deane with 6:28 left in the period.
The game remained a one-goal contest until Droney scored his second of the game off an assist from Michael Madera with 1:58 left in the third period. Deane iced the contest with his second goal with 28 seconds left in the contest.
The Westies again fell behind against New Rochelle, but scored four times in the third period to pull out a 6-4 victory.   Simone led the way with two goals, while Mickey Dowd and Madera each had a goal and an assist, and Droney had two assists.
Trailing 2-0, Simone got the Westies on the board with an unassisted goal with 4:10 left in the opening period. With New Rochelle leading 3-1, Sean Bosworth fed Dowd, who scored with 0.4 seconds left in the middle period to cut the deficit to 3-2.
After New Rochelle took a 4-2 lead seconds into the third period, the Westies scored the final four goals of the game.
Madera got the Westies within 4-3 when he scored in front off assists from Droney and Bruno Martone, before Simone evened the game at four off assists from Spreyer and Deane with 11:16 remaining.
The Westies took the lead for good with 4:57 remaining when Hardt knocked in a rebound of a Madera shot, with Droney also assisting. Shane Repetto iced the game when he scored in front with 1:32 to go off assists from Dowd and Nolan Cole. 

(January 15, 2018) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team won both games over the weekend to improve their overall record to 26-8-2.  The Westies knocked off the Northwestern Icehawks A, 6-1, and then trounced the Southern Stars A, 6-0.
On Saturday morning at Edward L. Bennett Rink, the Westies took down the Icehawks, 6-1, behind 25 saves from Jacob Silva and a hat trick by Zach Goetze.
Goetze opened the scoring 1:28 into the opening period when he tapped in Thomas Porto's feed left right on the doorstep.  The Icehawks tied it at 1-1 two minutes later, but with only 18 seconds left in the period, Porto won a faceoff to defenseman Dylan Bosworth who fired through a screen for a 2-1 West Haven advantage. 
Goetze made it 3-1 midway through the second when he picked the pocket of a defenseman and jammed the puck home for a short-handed tally.  Later in the period, Bosworth had a nice keep-in at the blue line and found Brady Price.  Price showed some nifty stick handling through traffic and wristed one in for a 4-1 lead.  In the final minute of the second, once again short-handed, Dylan Link poke checked the puck away, raced the length of the ice, and fired a wrist shot to make it 5-1.
The Westies finished off the game in the third period with solid defense and outstanding goaltending from Silva, who made two slick glove saves and also thwarted a breakaway.  The final goal came when Connor Moriarty chipped ahead to Goetze, who slid the puck under the pads for the 6-1 end result.
On Sunday, at the Milford Ice Pavilion, the Blue Devils dominated the Southern Stars A, winning 6-0 in convincing fashion.  Sean Studley and Porto led the way with two goals apiece. 
Studley opened the scoring 4:04 into the first period when he knocked in Ryan Pniewski's pass with Ethan Kelly also assisting.  Studley then made it 2-0 when he backhanded his own rebound off the far post and in with Kelly assisting again. Porto capped the scoring in the first when he stole the puck at the blue line and deposited the biscuit in the basket with 2:33 remaining.
Midway through the second period, Porto converted another breakaway with a laser that made it 4-0.  Studley passed to Moriarty, who fired off the goalie's pads, but Matthew Kelly swept in the rebound for a power play goal and a 5-0 lead.  In the third period, Bosworth beat a defender and then ripped one to the far post to cap the scoring.  Silva made five saves to earn the shutout between the pipes.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 24-11-4 with a split of its two games this past weekend. The Westies opened the weekend with a road victory over Darien, but fell to Simsbury at home Sunday morning.
Against Darien, Michael Madera led the way with a pair of goals, Bruno Martone added two assists, and Kyle Droney and Cade Simone each finished with a goal and an assist in a 6-5 victory.
Madera gave the Wessties a 1-0 lead 5:44 into the game when he scored off an assist from Martone. West Haven increased the lead to 2-0 1:38 later when Droney scored off an assist from Simone, before Droney set up Simone 5:26 later for a 3-0 advantage.
Leading 3-1, Madera increased the margin to three goals when he broke in to score on an unassisted breakaway. Darien rallied to score the next three goals, to even the game at four after two periods of play, but Sean Bosworth scored off an assist from Martone 2:26 into the third for a 5-4 advantage.
Darien evened the game 1:42 later, but Colin Deane scored an unassisted goal with 9:46 to go to give the Westies a 6-5 lead.
On Sunday, the Westies got off to a good start, but could not hang on in a 5-1 loss to Simsbury. West Haven scored its lone goal 3:19 into the game when Jayden Spreyer scored off an assist from Madera, but Simsbury scored the next two goals of the period, added two more in the second, and another in the third to top the Westies. 
(January 8, 2018) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team split a pair of close games this weekend.  The Blue Devils lost, 5-4, to the Riverhawks A on Saturday, before rebounding to defeat Greater New Haven Warriors A1, 6-4, on Sunday.  The Westies are now 24-8-2 on the season.
On Saturday, the Blue Devils traveled to the Rinks at Shelton to face the Riverhawks A squad.  West Haven trailed 4-0 in the first period, came back to make it a one-goal game in the third, but eventually lost 5-4.  Brady Price scored two goals and Sean Studley added a goal and an assist to lead the Westies offense.
Trailing 4-0,   Ryan Pniewski got the Westies on the board when his wrist shot went five-hole.  Studley passed ahead to Ethan Kelly who found Pniewski in the right circle.
In the second period, the Westies defense clamped down and Blue Devils goaltender Jacob Silva made some quality saves. Ethan Kelly and Studley combined for the only tally midway through the period as Kelly dug the puck off the boards and centered to the slot.  Studley outhustled a defender to the puck and swept a one-timer inside the far post to make it 4-2.
With 6:28 to go in the game, Zach Goetze found Price streaking down the right side and Price roofed his wrist shot for a power play goal that cut the Riverhawk lead to 4-3.  The Riverhawks scored their own man-advantage goal with just over three minutes to play to regain the two-goal lead.  With 1:35 on the clock, Matthew Kelly passed ahead to Goetze who found Price again.  Price's wrister went five-hole to make the final score 5-4.  Silva was solid in between the pipes with 22 saves.
On Sunday morning, at Edward L Bennett Rink, the Westies scored three third period goals to pull away from the Warriors and post a 6-4 victory.  Zach Goetze recorded a hat trick and Jacob Silva made 24 saves to lead the Blue Devils. 
Goetze tapped in a loose puck, with assists from Price and Thomas Porto, to score the only goal of the opening period and give West Haven a 1-0 lead.  The Warriors tied it early in the second period, but Goetze carried the puck the length of the ice, deked right, and scored left to make it 2-1.  Greater New Haven later scored a power play goal to tie it again at 2-2.
West Haven then killed off a critical two-man advantage, with Silva making a couple of clutch saves, before the top line gave the Westies the lead for the third time. Price scored with 31 seconds left in the period, with assists to Porto and Goetze, after they applied heavy pressure throughout their shift.
Pniewski slid one five-hole just 25 seconds into the third period with assists to Ethan Kelly and Studley.  Midway through the period, Porto fed Goetze for a short-handed breakaway making it 5-2.  GNH scored off the next puck drop just 15 seconds later, but Studley scored on a spinning back-hand shot from Ethan Kelly 21 seconds after that to regain the three-goal lead.  The Warriors scored once more, but Silva was clutch down the stretch to finish off the win.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team improved to 23-10-4 with a sweep of weekend action. The Westies opened with a victory over the Huskies and followed with another win over the Western Massachusetts Wizards.
Against the Huskies Saturday afternoon at the Edward L. Bennett Rink in West Haven, the Westies took a 1-0 lead 23 seconds into the game when Dante Hardt scored off an assist from Jayden Spreyer. The Huskies evened the contest 47 seconds later, and took the lead nine seconds after the equalizer.
The lead held up for the Huskies until the third period when Nolan Cole scored off assists from Mickey Dowd and Dave Brown with 11:38 remaining. West Haven scored the go-ahead goal when Cade Simone tallied with 5:48 left in the game.
The Westies capped the sweep with a 2-0 victory over the Wizards Sunday in West Haven. Brendan Smith was solid in goal and the Westies received a solid defensive effort.West Haven took a 1-0 lead in the second period when Spreyer scored off an assist from Hardt. The Westies got an insurance goal 2:37 into the third when Colin Deane scored off an assist from Brown. 
(January 2, 2018) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team finished off 2017 in fine fashion with a 10-0 rout of Southern Stars A Saturday morning at Edward L. Bennett Rink.  Thomas Porto led the Westies with five goals and an assist while Zach Goetze added two goals and two assists.  West Haven is now 23-7-2 on the season.
The Westies jumped to a 1-0 lead 29 seconds into the game. Dylan Bosworth's point shot rebounded to Brady Price who found Porto in front and the center slammed it home. Three minutes later, Dylan Link made a nice play to keep the puck in the zone and found Ethan Kelly on the wing. Kelly hit Price, who buried his wrist shot. Porto went five hole at the end of the period and the Blue Devils led 3-0 at the first intermission. 
West Haven struck in the opening minute of the second period when Porto passed ahead to Price, who carried it deep and found Goetze in front for a 4-0 lead. Porto tapped in Goetze's feed. and then Goetze went five-hole on a breakaway in the closing minutes of the second for a 6-0 advantage. 
In the third period, Porto sliced and diced the Southern team before deking and scoring. Ryan Pniewski buried Ethan Kelly's pass midway through the period and Goetze fed Porto for an easy goal, before Connor Moriarty capped the scoring with a laser off a Sean Studley pass. Jacob Silva had nine saves in net for the Westies.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 21-10-4 with a split of its two games this weekend. The Westies fell to Western Select on Saturday, before defeating Stamford on Sunday. 
The Westies fell to 20-10-4 with a 5-2 loss against Western Select Saturday afternoon at the Edward L. Bennett Rink in West Haven. 
Trailing 1-0, West Have evened the contest with 7:34 left in the opening period when Cade Simone scored in front off an assist from Mickey Dowd. After Western took a 1-0 lead with 1:26 remaining in the opening period, Colin Deane evened the contest off an assist from Nolan Cole 12 seconds later. 
The game remained even at two until the third period when Western scored the go-ahead goal 2:03 into the period. Western iced the game with a pair of goals in the final 2:46. 
​The Westies gained a split of the weekend with a 5-4 victory over Stamford Sunday morning in West Haven. Dave Brown led the way with two goals and an assist, while Nolan Cole also scored twice. 
Trailing 1-0 in the first period, West Haven evened the contest when Shane Repetto fed Cole for the equalizer with 2:36 remaining. West Haven took a 2-1 lead 1:47 into the second when Dowd set up Brown for the first of his two goals. 
Stamford tied the game at two in the second, but just 1:05 later, Michael Madera set up Brown for a 3-2 advantage. Stamford again evened the game at three, but West Haven needed just 17 seconds to take the lead for good. 
Off the ensuing faceoff, Madera chased the puck in the corner and fed Brown at the point. Brown's blast was knocked in by Dante Hardt for a 4-3 lead. Cole then gave the Westies some breathing room after Repetto dug the puck out and fed Cole, who ripped a shot to the top right corner for a 5-3 lead with under six minutes to go.  
(December 26, 2017) - The West Haven Mite A travel hockey team posted a win over Greater New Haven Mite B. Riley Crowley scored off of a rebound to help the Westies secure their lead. Jake Newkirk and Andrew Grillo played a role in the team’s success by making quality offensive and defensive plays.
The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team lost a close game to Avon A, 5-3, on Saturday morning at Edward L. Bennett Rink. The loss drops the Westies to 22-7-2 on the season. 
Avon scored first, at 2:24 of the opening period. The Blue Devils tied the game at one three minutes later when Zach Goetze scored on a breakaway with Thomas Porto assisting. 
Avon regained the lead with three minutes left in the period when the puck deflected off a skate and got past Westies goaltender Jacob Silva. Silva had made a terrific save to stop a breakaway moments earlier.Just 29 seconds into the second period, Porto tied the game at 2-2 when he finished off some nice passing from Goetze and Brady Price.  Silva kept the game tied with some clutch saves in the period.
The game remained tied and play went back and forth until Avon converted a 2-on-1 with 5:30 remaining in the game. Avon pushed the lead to 4-2 just 43 seconds later. West Haven would not quit and Goetze passed from behind the net to Price who snapped a wrist shot top shelf to make it 4-3.  The Westies could not get the equalizer though and Avon scored with 2:34 remaining for the final tally. Silva finished with 25 saves for West Haven. 
(December 18, 2017) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team split a pair of road games over the weekend.  On Saturday, the Westies were overmatched by Greater New Haven A and lost 13-1. The team bounced back on Sunday to defeat Hamden A, 9-5.  The Blue Devils are now 22-6-2 overall.
On Saturday at the Northford Ice Pavilion, the Squirt A’s ran into a powerful Greater New Haven Warriors team.  Zach Goetze scored the lone goal for the Westies when he converted a breakaway in the third period.
The Blue Devils then traveled to Louis Astorino Rink in Hamden Sunday morning to face the Green Dragons as part of the "Winter Classic" weekend series between the Hamden and West Haven hockey programs.
The Green Dragons took a 1-0 lead 1:45 into the game when the puck squirted through Westies goaltender Jacob Silva. Sean Studley evened it at one at 8:27 when he redirected Ethan Kelly's pass inside the near post. 
Goetze deked and scored on a break just 34 seconds later, and Thomas Porto back-handed in a feed from Brady Price and Goetze another 34 seconds after that to give West Haven a 3-1 advantage after one period. 
Porto to Goetze, back to Porto made it 4-1 in the first minute of the second period.  Three minutes later, Dylan Bosworth found Goetze behind the net and he fed Porto in the slot to make it 5-1.  Hamden scored two goals within seven seconds to cut it to 5-3, but Porto again scored from the slot from Price and Goetze for a 6-3 advantage after two periods. 
Matthew Kelly sent a pass to Dylan Link who fired in from the right point to open the third period.  After a Hamden tally, Bosworth went end-to-end while shorthanded for an 8-4 lead.  Hamden converted on a power play, but Porto's fifth goal, in the final seconds with an assist to Price, finished the scoring for the 9-5 win.  Silva had 14 saves in net for the Westies.
The West Haven Squirt B travel hockey team split the weekend with a 6-5 loss against Avon and a 6-1 win against Hamden.
The Westies lost a well-played game on Saturday against Avon.  Cameren Lipford had four goals and J.J. Hall found the back of the net once as well.  Adding in with assists were Jack Frances, Chris Consorte, Rafi Treat and Lucas Iversen.  
The Westies then followed up a tough loss with a big win against rival Hamden.  Six Westies found the back of the net which included Jack Frances, Tyler McColgan, Treat, Hall, Gavin Coady and Lipford.  Maddex Lafountain as solid in goal with 23 saves.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team improved to 20-8-4 with a sweep of two games this weekend. The Westies opened with a 10-2 victory over ECHO in Bolton on Saturday.
Dave Brown led the way with three goals, Colin Deane scored twice, Nolan Cole had a goal and an assist, and Dante Hardt had two assists. The West Haven defense accounted for six goals in the game.
West Haven put the game away quickly, taking a 5-0 lead in the opening period. Brown scored off an assist from Hardt 3:53 into the game, Sean Bosworth scored from the point with 6:37 left in the period, and Jack Sellman scored off an assist from Cade Simone 36 seconds later. Deane and Brown capped the first period scoring with unassisted goals.
The Westies increased the lead to 8-0 with three more goals in the second. Hardt set up Brown 2:19 into the period, Deane scored unassisted with 6:30 to go, and Michael Madera redirected a shot by Mickey Dowd home for an 8-0 advantage. Jason Alling scored off an assist from Cole 2:25 into the third, and Cole added an unassisted tally less than four minutes later.
The Westies swept the weekend with a 3-1 victory over Hamden at the Louis Astorino Rink in Hamden Sunday morning. Jayden Spreyer led the Westies with two goals, while Deane added a pair of assists. West Haven took a 1-0 lead in the opening period when Spreyer scored off a perfect pass from Deane 1:13 into the game. Hardt gave the Westies a 2-0 lead 1:50 into the second off a rebound of a Brown shot, before Spreyer increased the lead to three goals off an assist from Deane with 7:32 remaining in the game.
Brendan Smith was sensational in goal, making several key saves early and a handful more late in the game.
The West Haven Bantam A team opened the weekend at home and delivered a decisive victory over Darien by the score of 5-2. On Sunday, the Westies traveled to play arch rival Hamden and lost 5-2
On Saturday morning, the West Haven Bantams had revenge on their minds. After losing 8-0 to Darien last week, the Devils looked like a different team.
After a scoreless first period, Ben Carfora dazzled his way through Darien’s defense to score two goals, the second one a shorthanded tally. The Westies played a strong game throughout, led by the tenacious fore checking of Joe Honcz, Mike Alfano, Ryan Bernardi and Andrew Wrzosek.
Darien cut the lead to one, but Carfora scored again and Luca Ubaldi added the Westies second empty net goal to give the Devils the 5-2 win. Joe Crisci was terrific in goal, making several nice saves. He was helped out on defense by Justin Pniewski, Joe D’Aurio and Adrien Fielosh.
On Sunday, the Bantams traveled to Hamden. They fell behind early, but battled back to tie the game at two at the midway point. Fielosh scored on a shot from the point and Carfora netted a rebound off a shot from Ubaldi. Hamden then assumed control of the game and skated away with the 5-2 victory.

(December 11, 2017) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team returned to its winning ways with a pair of victories this weekend.  The Westies won a tight game, 4-3, over visiting ECHO A, and then blew out Yale A1, 11-0, on the road.  West Haven is now 21-5-2 on the season.
On Saturday morning, the Westies hosted the Stars of ECHO at Edward L. Bennett Rink.  With starting goaltender Jacob Silva out sick, the team looked to Squirt B goalie Maddox LaFountain to step up.  LaFountain made a tough save in the second minute of the game and the Westies rode the momentum.
ECHO got on the board first with a goal at the 7:01 mark of the opening period.  Zach Goetze tied it 3:01 into the second period when he took Thomas Porto's pass and fired into the top corner. 
Just 43 seconds later, Goetze hit Brady Price with a pass and Price snapped home a wrist shot for a 2-1 lead.  Price struck again with two minutes left in the period when he buried Goetze's pass through the crease. 
LaFountain made a clutch save on a one-on-none and the Blue Devils led 3-1 going into the third period.  The Stars made it 3-2 at 1:45, but Dylan Link's laser from the point off an assist from Ethan Kelly at 3:11 pushed the lead back up to two.  ECHO scored with under five minutes to go, but the Westies defense clamped down and did not allow another shot the rest of the way.  LaFountain was solid and finished with 13 saves.  
On Sunday afternoon at the Northford Ice Pavilion, the Blue Devils dominated possession of the puck and cruised past the Yale A1 team with an 11-0 shutout victory. 
Seven different players scored goals in the contest. Porto led the offense with a hat trick and a pair of assists.  Goetze (two goals and an assist), Sean Studley (goal and two assists) and Matthew Kelly (three assists) all had three points for the Blue Devils. 
Link had a pair of goals, while Ethan Kelly scored a goal and added an assist.  Price and Connor Moriarty scored goals.  Dylan Bosworth and Ryan Pniewski skated hard at both ends of the ice and Jacob Silva returned to the net and earned the shutout with 10 saves.
The West Haven Squirt B travel hockey team posted a win this weekend with a 7-2 victory over the Seahawks. Cameren Lipford had five goals and an assist, while Gavin Coady and J.J. Hall each had a goal as well.
Rafi Treat , Gavin Fanelli, Sean Luxeder, and Tyler McColgan each  had an assist. Maddex LaFountain was solid in net for the Westies.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 18-8-4 with a win and a tie this past weekend. The Westies traveled to Newington and defeated Central on Saturday, before falling to Yale at home on Sunday.
Against Central, Jayden Spreyer scored twice in a 3-1 victory. West Haven took a 1-0 lead with 5:37 left in the first as Kyle Droney set up Spreyer in front. After killing off a 5-on-3 to end the period, West Haven took a 2-0 lead just 2:09 into the second period when Spreyer scored an unassisted goal.
Brendan Smith was solid in goal, protecting the lead, before Colin Deane increased the lead to 3-0 off an assist from Bruno Martone with 9:40 remaining. Central scored with 4:28 remaining, but West Haven held on for the win.
The Westies returned home Sunday morning, but could not get going on offense in a 2-0 loss to Yale. In a thrilling contest, the game remained scoreless until the third period, but Yale scored twice in less than a minute, the first with 9:34 remaining in the game, to take control of the contest.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team hosted Northwestern on Saturday and won 6-1. On Sunday, the Westies traveled to Darien and lost 8-0
At Bennet Rink on Saturday morning, the Devils started fast, jumping out to a 4-0 first period lead. Luca Ubaldi opened up the scoring with a shot from the point. Mikey Alafno then ripped a wrist shot past the goaltender off a pass from Andrew Wrzosek. Steven Lewis finished off a goal after a scramble in front that was started by Joe D’Aurio’s shot, then it was Adrian Fielosh who was next to score with the assist going to Joe Honcz.
The game settled down, but the Westies kept up the pressure as Nico Bruneau scored. Anthony Peschell tallied the last goal on a breakaway.
On Sunday, an injury-riddled and undermanned West Haven squad could not muster much of an attack. With three players out with injuries and losing Lewis early in the second period, the Devils never threatened Darien. The one bright spot was the play of goaltender Joe Crisci, who made several spectacular saves. Without any offensive production, it was all for naught.

(December 4, 2017) - The West Haven Squirt A travel hockey team went into the Thanksgiving break on a 17-game winning streak and had not tasted defeat since October 1.  As play resumed this weekend, the Westies faced two of the top teams in the region with both games at Edward L. Bennett Rink.
On Saturday morning, the winning streak was snapped with a 2-2 tie against the Wonderland Wizards A, and on Sunday morning, West Haven lost to Riverhawks A, 4-3.  West Haven is now 17-5-2 overall.
West Haven was shut out, 3-0, by the Wizards early in the season, but Saturday's rematch proved how much the team has improved.  Goaltender Jacob Silva was superb between the pipes with 19 saves and the defensemen (Connor Moriarty, Dylan Bosworth, Matthew Kelly, and Dylan Link) played tough, smart hockey. 
Blue Devil Thomas Porto opened the scoring four minutes into the first period when he snapped home a wrist shot with Bosworth assisting.  Then, with 1:16 remaining in the period, Brady Price hit Zach Goetze from behind the net and Goetze went top shelf to give the Westies a 2-0 lead. 
Wonderland cut it to 2-1 midway through the second period and tied the game when it pulled its goalie and scored with 42 seconds left.  The Westies almost won it when Goetze threaded a pass to Bosworth toward the blue line and the defenseman's shot whistled just wide of the net with five seconds on the clock.
Sunday's game was a back-and-forth affair with both teams using their speed to generate offense. 
Goetze gave West Haven a 1-0 lead two minutes into the game off some nice touch passing from Price and Porto. The Riverhawks tied it 1-1 three minutes later at 5:13 when Silva made an initial save, but could not keep out the rebound. 
Porto won the resulting faceoff to Goetze who hit ahead to Price who found the upper left corner to regain the lead at 5:20.  The Riverhawks evened the game at two, and took the lead at 3-2 with 1:21 remaining in the first period when the Westies failed to clear the puck from their zone. 
Silva then kept the Westies in it with several clutch saves in the second period.  Porto tapped in a feed from Goetze and Price with five minutes left in the game to knot it again at 3-3.  But, the Riverhawks scored with 1:44 left on the clock for the 4-3 advantage.  The Blue Devils earned a power play and pulled the goalie in the final minute, but could not find the equalizer.  Silva finished with 23 saves in the game.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team moved to 17-7-4 with a win and a tie this weekend. The Westies opened the weekend with a tie against Watertown, before posting a win over Ridgefield on Sunday.
West Haven opened the week with a 3-3 tie against Watertown in Shelton. Trailing 1-0, the Westies tied the game 3:47 into the second period when Mickey Dowd scored off an assist from Colin Deane. Watertown took a 2-1 lead with 24 seconds remaining in the middle period, but a rush by Nolan Cole ended with an unassisted goal to even the game with 8:03 remaining.
After Watertown took a 3-2 lead with 4:56 to go in the game, West Haven tied the contest when Michael Madera scored with 1:16 remaining in the game.
Brendan Smith was superb in goal, stopping numerous chances from in close, including a spectacular glove save with two minutes to go to keep the Westies within a goal.
West Haven closed the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Ridgefield Sunday morning at the Edward L. Bennett Rink in West Haven. Trailing 1-0 in the second period, Madera took a pass from Dave Brown and fired a shot to the top corner for the equalizer with 2:19 left in the middle period.
The game remained even at one until Brown ripped a shot into the net with 8:38 left in the third for a 2-1 lead.
Jack Sellman, Sean Bosworth, Haygen Axelrod, Jason Alling, and Bruno Martone played well on defense for the Westies, while Smith again came up big in goal several times to preserve the win.
The West Haven Bantam A travel hockey team played three games in the past two weekends. Last week the Westies played the Ferroni Hockey Academy out of Ontario, Canada and drooped a 3-0 decision. Last Saturday, they rebounded with a solid 7-2 win over Greater New Haven. On Sunday, in a rematch, the Westies fell to Greater New Haven 2-1
On Friday against Ferroni, the Devils skated well, but were unable to score against a very fast Canadian Squad. Ryan Smith, Nick Boanno, Rocco Plano, and Michael Kelly, playing their last weekend before heading to high school action, carried the play for Westies all night.
On Saturday against Greater New Haven, Ben Carfora led the way with three goals and two assists. The Westies were never threatened and dominated play most of the game. Smith scored twice in an outstanding effort. Kelly and Andrew Wrzosek also found the net.
This past Sunday in a rematch with Greater New Haven, the Bantams played their first game without their players who left for high school. The Westies struggled to adjust and could not amount much offense.
After falling behind 2-0, West Haven mounted a late surge and did score on a shot by Nico Bruneau off a pass from Anthony Peschell. The Westies pressured late, but had a goal disallowed and could not force the tie. 

Former National Hockey League player and West Haven Youth Hockey Alumnus Eric Boguniecki speaks to the crowd on Eric Boguniecki Day at the Edward L. Bennett Rink, Sunday, November 12, 2017. Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.