New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Second to none Notre Dame-WH is unanimous No. 1 in final poll
Back on Dec. 23, Notre DameWest Haven lost in the waning seconds of overtime to New Canaan. Nick Megdanis’ winner was New Canaan’s fourth goal.
Never again did the Green Knights allow a state team to score four. Only twice in their eight out-of-state games did they allow more than three. Running the table against Connecticut teams after that early loss, Notre Dame-West Haven is a unanimous No. 1 in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Boys Hockey Poll.
“Our mantra all year,” Green Knights coach Larry Vieira said Tuesday after a 4-2 win over Darien in the Division I final, “was ‘get to three.’ We don’t give up more than three.” Notre Dame scored its third goal 4:21 into the third period, and sure enough, that was enough.
Notre Dame became No. 1 in the poll on Jan. 17 after wins over Fairfield Prep and Rhode Island’s Mount Saint Charles. It began receiving every first-place vote on Feb. 7 and never missed a firstplace vote again. The Green Knights defeated No. 2 Xavier the next day to seal the ranking.
“What stood out is these kids never missed practice. I always say, they punched the time clock,” Vieira said.
“They come to work. They enjoy being with each other, enjoy being on the ice.”
Notre Dame trailed after the first and second periods Tuesday. The team talked in the dressing room about good teams finding a way to win. The Green Knights scored two quick goals.
The championship was the school’s first hockey title in a decade. It had been a surprise finalist in 2019, the last time the CIAC tournaments reached a
conclusion, in Vieira’s first year at Notre Dame. Vieira has coached in the state since the mid-1980s, but this was just his second state championship, joining Branford’s 1988 Division II title.
“I told them before the game, it’s been a pleasure coaching you,” Vieira said. “I was in tears, and I never cry. I said, for me to watch you guys, it’s a beautiful thing. And any time kids can come and work like that without us — I never had to raise my voice. They just come to work.”
Darien, which was sixth in the poll before the state tournament, took second in the final poll.
“There’s a few key moments during a season. We had a tough loss to St. Joseph (5-1 on Jan. 24); that could’ve been a moment where we had a little bit of a backstep,” Blue Wave coach Mac Budd said Tuesday. “Losing to Ridgefield (1-0 in the FCIAC semifinal) was a little bit of a setback as well.”
But the team rebounded and played some of their most consistent hockey all season in the playoffs. Budd thought their first period Tuesday might’ve been their best period all season.
Darien’s jump to second pushed Xavier and Fairfield — which did not play in the CIAC tournament, ineligible after opting out to keep its co-op together — down a spot to third and fourth. Semifinalist New Canaan moved up to fifth. FCIAC champion Ridgefield was sixth, a spot ahead of CCC North champion Northwest Catholic, and two ahead of Fairfield Prep.
Division II champion Wethersfield moved into the top 10 for the first time this year at ninth, knocking runner-up North Haven out of the top 10. Hamden held on at 10.