Fairfield Prep’s depth shows in semifinal win over Greenwich
HAMDEN — The saying goes that your best players have to be your best players at this time of year. But if you can get the rest of them at their best at this time of year, you’re pretty dangerous.
Fairfield Prep got contributions from each forward line, got two goals from defenseman Greg Hilinski and got 17 saves from James Heber in a 5-0 win Thursday over Greenwich in the CIAC Division I semifinals.
The Jesuits struck a couple of minutes into the game and had some dominant moments at Quinnipiac’s M&T Bank Arena. And when the momentum turned toward the Cardinals, Fairfield Prep’s third and fourth line often had an answer.
“We want to have momentum throughout all our lines,” captain Will Huntington said. “We have such faith in all of us. We know all four lines can come out and score a goal.”
Fairfield Prep (17-6-0), the second seed, will seek its 19th CIAC title here on Wednesday at 7 p.m. It will face top-seeded Notre Dame-West Haven (18-4-1), a 5-1 winner over New Canaan, in the final.
The Jesuits were ranked No. 1 in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll coming into the tournament. Notre Dame was second. The teams split two regular-season games, and Fairfield Prep defeated the Green Knights in a shootout in the SCC/SWC final.
The low point for the Jesuits may have been their 6-1 loss to Notre Dame in
West Haven on Jan. 7. They’re 12-3 since as they’ve established their roles under first-year coach Vin O’Hara, who took over for the retired Matt Sather.
“It definitely feels like when we’re able to get those top two lines a breather, when they come back, they’re skating downhill,” O’Hara said.
“It’s a complicated game, but it’s simple when you make it that way, when you’re able to slow it down and make the simple play.”
Fairfield Prep’s third line was on the ice for Hilinski’s first goal. Jackson Hicks retrieved a dumpin, and sent it to Brooks Reynolds down low. Reynolds got it to Hilinski above the right circle. Hilinski’s blast on net made it 1-0 at 2:48. All simple; all effective.
Hilinski, O’Hara said, has a huge shot; at the Mount Saint Charles Holiday Shootout, he was the Jesuits’ candidate for the hardest-shot competition.
“He’s absolutely a threat,” O’Hara said. “He’s a fantastic player, a great kid. He worked hard this weekend on getting the puck on net. It pays off.”
Greenwich, the 11th seed, was buzzing at times the rest of the period but couldn’t solve Heber.
“The defense made it easy for me,” Heber said. “I was able to see the puck well and get the job done.”
Fairfield Prep’s fourth line kept the puck in the Greenwich end for most of a shift later in the period, and Blake Baksay (four points) scored soon after.
The Cardinals finished 9-15-1 after upsetting
Ridgefield in the FCIAC quarterfinals, Northwest Catholic in the Division I first round and Simsbury in the Division I quarters to get here.
“You get hot at the right time of year,” Greenwich coach Jack Duffy said, “you can have some fun.”
Some tweaks before a mid-February regularseason game against Northwest Catholic paid off in the weeks that followed. A moment in the Simsbury quarterfinal stood out to Duffy, after a puck didn’t get out of the defensive game.
“They called each other out,” he said. “That’s when I knew they had really come together as a team: They were holding each other accountable.
“Great teammates. They support one another. When they can hold each other accountable, that means your coaching job is done.”
Player of the Game
Fairfield Prep senior defenseman Greg Hilinski scored the first and third goals.
Quotable
“Sometimes finding a role and understanding that everyone has a part to do is difficult, but staying within that role in the system, a coach’s job is making sure it’s clear.” —Fairfield Prep coach Vin O’Hara