The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
CIAC HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW CAPSULES
DIVISION I
NO. 2 FAIRFIELD PREP AT NO. 1 NOTRE DAME-WH
WHEN: Wednesday, 7 p.m.
WHERE: M&T Bank Arena, Quinnipiac University, Hamden
SEEDS/RECORDS: No. 1 Notre DameWest Haven (18-4-1) vs No. 2 Fairfield Prep (17-6-0).
TICKETS: GoFan.co ($10; children five and under, military in uniform or with I.D. free.) Digital tickets only (no cash sales at event).
ON THE AIR/WEB: NFHS Network (Subscription required)
CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES: Where to start? Fairfield Prep has appeared in 22 championship games since 1977 and has won 18 of them (the first of both of those figures was a Division II title.) Notre Dame has appeared in 19 championship games, (the first in Division II), winning eight; this is the defending champion’s third consecutive state-final appearance in which there was a state final (2019, 2022, 2023). This is the sixth time the schools have gone head-to-head for a Division I title (2001, 2004, 2005, 2013, 2019). Fairfield Prep won the first five.
TOP PLAYERS: Notre Dame: Connor Crowley, Sr. G; Tye Battipaglia, Sr. F; James Mascari, Jr. F. Fairfield Prep: Blake Baksay, Jr. F; James Murphy, Jr. F; Colin Woodward, Sr. D.
YOU SHOULD KNOW: A class hasn’t graduated from Fairfield Prep without seeing at least one championship since 1990. This year’s seniors lost two state tournaments to the pandemic and fell in last year’s quarterfinals.
OUTLOOK: These rivals may have both played their worst games of the season against the other. Fairfield Prep’s came in mid-January, getting blitzed in the third period for a 6-1 Notre Dame win. Then Notre Dame was flat in a 5-1 loss to the Jesuits in mid-February . ... They played a regulation tie on March 4 in the
GAME
SCC/SWC Division I title game, though. Fairfield Prep won a shootout for the championship . ... Notre Dame’s coach is Larry Vieira, who has been coaching high school teams since the ‘80s; Fairfield Prep’s is Vin O’Hara, in his first season coaching the varsity . ... These are, as usual, two teams that can play four lines and six defensemen (or even deeper at times) with some confidence and can get a lift from all of them. But both teams’ top lines include a few MVP-type players, with Mascari (26 goals) and Battipaglia flanking Daniel
Cusack, and with Murphy between Baksay and Will Huntington . ... The SCC/ SWC championship propelled the Jesuits into first in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll, knocking Notre Dame out of that spot for the first time in 14 months. MIKE'S PICK: Notre Dame-West Haven.
DIVISION II
NO. 2 WOODSTOCK ACADEMY VS. NO. 1 NORTH HAVEN
WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
WHERE: M&T Bank Arena, Quinnipiac
University, Hamden
SEEDS/RECORDS: No. 1 North Haven (23-2-0) vs No. 2 Woodstock Academy (23-1-0)
TICKETS: GoFan.co ($10; children five and under, military in uniform or with I.D. free.) Digital tickets only (no cash sales at event).
ON THE AIR/WEB: NFHS Network (Subscription required)
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME APPEARANCES: North Haven is in its fourth final and its second in a row; it fell to Wethersfield last year. North Haven won the 1980 and 2004 Division II championships. Woodstock Academy, a CIAC program for only a decade, won the 2017 Division III championship. TOP PLAYERS: North Haven: Owen Quick, Sr. D; Bryce Petersen, Sr. G; Tommy Guidone, Sr. F. Woodstock Academy: Noah Sampson, Jr. F; Maxx Corradi: Soph. F; Donny Sousa, Jr. F.
YOU SHOULD KNOW: Since 1976, when the CIAC went to two divisions, North Haven is the 14th team to reach a CIAC final the year after losing in a final. The other 13 teams were 8-5 the second time around.
OUTLOOK: Two irresistible forces of different varieties meet up here, featuring arguably the two best top lines in Division II. Corradi, Sampson and Sousa have scored 92 of the Centaurs’ 148 goals themselves, including seven in a semifinal win over Branford . ... One of the few times the Nutmeg Hockey Conference champs were quiet, aside from a Corradi short-handed goal, was Jan. 11 at Northford Ice Pavilion, when North Haven defeated Woodstock Academy 5-1 . ... The Guidone, Alex Petersen and Will Sullivan line can control the pace of the game, Quick is among the state’s best defensemen, and Bryce Petersen has exceeded expectations in net for the SCC/ SWC Division II champions, with two shutouts in three tournament games.
MIKE'S PICK: North Haven.