Newington co-op grateful to have the chance to play

Newington-Berlin-Manchester-Cromwell-Canton hockey co-op head coach Dave Harackiewicz said the end of last year’s season — an upset loss to Housatonic in the first round of the Division III state tournament — left a “bad taste” in the team’s mouth.

Now more than halfway through the 2021 season, the team has wasted no time making up for last year’s finish.

Newington is 6-0-1 and has won five in a row after tying with Hall-Southington in the second game of the season. The team is in second place in all of Division III and first place in the Central Connecticut Conference South standings.

“I think we have a lot of balance on the team,” Harackiewicz said. “If you’ve got a pretty good offense, somegood defensemen and an outstanding goaltender, you can go a long way.”

Newington has all three of those components. The senior duo of Killian Ranger and Sam Hedlund has been as potent as any attack in the conference. Harackiewicz described them as “very dynamic players.” Ranger has developed into a talented goal scorer, and Hedlund “does everything well.” He called junior Braeden Humphries and sophomore Evan Howard the top defensemen in the league. Andrew Fogarty, a senior, is one of the state’s top goaltenders.

Players of the week

Nathanael DiSalvatore, East Catholic: DiSalvatore posted a hat trick in East Catholic’s 6-2 win over South Windsor.

Sam Hedlund, Newington co-op: Hedlund scored three times in a win over Northeastern.

Killian Ranger, Newington co-op: Ranger scored twice in Newington’s win over Northeastern and again in a win over Enfield.

Owen McGoldrick,

Conard: McGoldrick scored four goals in Conard’s 6-2 win over Northeastern.

Luke Festa, Sheehan: Festa scored four goals for Sheehan in a 9-1 win over Guilford.

Teams of the week

Xavier: After being sidelined for two weeks due to a COVID-19 quarantine, Xavier went 3-1 last week.

Sheehan: After losing their first gameoftheseason to Lyman Hall last Saturday, the Titans (7-1) avenged the loss last Monday with a 4-2 victory over the Trojans.

EastCatholic: The Eagles beat South Windsor on Saturday for their sixth straight win.

Storylines

Twoweekpause? Nopractices? Noproblem, asit turnsout, for Xavier hockey.

The Falcons had to quarantinefor14daysafterapositive test within the program and returned to the ice last

SundayandbeatNotreDame Fairfield with zero days of practice under their belt.

They then beat Immaculate March 1, took a day off Tuesday and beat Simsbury on Wednesday. They lost to Fairfield Prep — the state’s top team — by just a goal on Saturday and beat Woodstock Academy on Sunday.

Xavier (5-2) is ranked fourth in Division I. Starting with Immaculate on March 1, Xavier will play 10 games in 20 days to end the season.

What to watch this week

Northwest Catholic at Simsbury, Tuesday: The Trojans host the Lions in a showdown of two of the top teams in the CCC North.

Wethersfield at East Catholic, Thursday: One of the area’s best programs will look to slow down the surging Eagles.

Xavier at Northwest Catholic, Thursday: The Falcons have played well sincereturningfromquarantine. The Lions have played well all year.