New identity for defending D-II champ Farmington Valley
Raising the championship plaque at the end of last season was a long time coming for Mike Barone and the Farmington Valley Generals, the first since 2005 and just the second in program history.
But with a slew of senior starters graduating, especially on the defensive end, the team looks quite different than the one that stood tall at Yale last year.
“We graduated six of eight defensemen,” Barone said. “So we have these young guys coming in still learning, and they'll make mistakes. They're used to that winning mode, and it's been quite an adjustment to the amount of youth we have.”
The returning defensemen, Phil Kholund and Christian Davidson, are joined by converted forward Tommy Driggs. They've been joined by a trio of sophomores who've gotten ice time: Jack Calcavecchia, Drew Abbott and Nate Watson.
The Generals do have the luxury of returning a trio of talented scorers from last season in seniors Owen Lacourciere and Eric Schweitzer and junior Matt Arena. And senior Trevor Paluso is back between the pipes after a superb junior year.
“Owen is playing like crazy, and Matty has stepped in and played well,” Barone said. “And I gave Trevor a captaincy. He's been terrific in the pipes for us. He has a big hurdle with the defensemen in front of him, but he's learning to control game a little more.”
With a younger team, and coming off a championship win last season, Barone took a different approach to his schedule this season. The Generals opened with a tough game against Northwest Catholic, a shootout loss that Barone thought was good for his team.
“Usually I'm hesitant to do that. I like to get a couple warmup games in,” Barone said. “But I did it this year because I wanted them to see that higher level of play right out of the gate. So were 5-3-1, and I'm not disappointed in that. We're building for the future, definitely, but hopefully we can still make a good run out there.”
Newington eyes D-III run
Behind a well-tested roster, the Newington co-op has jumped out to a 6-2 start and finds itself among the early contenders in the chase for the Division III title.
“One of the keys to our early success is our experience from our senior and junior group, in particular the seniors,” coach Dave Harackiewicz said. “They've all been with program for so many years now. And that's a big factor that we've played with for the most part for the first eight games.”
Behind that experience, though, lies one weakness Harackiewicz has had to worry about.
“There's not a lot of depth. We play just three lines and four defensemen,” he said. “But I'll put [those four defensemen] up against any defense in D-III. And they all have great offensive capabilities, which definitely helps us out.”
Those defensemen — Pat Doherty, Joe Fogarty, Tyler Ralph and Justin Stergos — allow the Newington offense to often skate four players above the blue line. This has led to the 25-30 shots a game they've been getting off, although Harackiewicz knows there's still room to get better.
“What we need to improve on is our defensive zone coverage in front of the goalie,” Harackiewicz said. “We're allowing too many rebound opportunities, and we have to improve that moving forward. So if we do that better, we'll be a more dangerous team than we have been.”
One surprise for Newington this year? Sophomore goalie Andrew Fogarty. Junior Alex DiPaola came in as the expected starter and should still see time in net, but after a strong performance in a 2-0 win over Newtown, Harackiewicz has been riding Fogarty's hot glove.
3 games to watch
Greenwich at Northwest Catholic, Wednesday, 3:20 p.m.: Greenwich has had some struggles this season, losing twice this past week, while Northwest Catholic hasn't lost yet. The Lions could cement their place as top D-I contender while Greenwich could right the ship with a win.
Fairfield Prep at West Haven, Wednesday, 6 p.m.: The Jesuits haven't started off that well, but after a week off, they need a win to set things right. West Haven has played well through nine games, and a win over the defending D-I champs would be a statement.
Simsbury at South Windsor, Saturday, 2:50 p.m.: The Trojans have some big wins this season, but they've taken some big losses, too. South Windsor is playing well as it eyes a D-II run. Awin for both would be huge going forward.
Sean Begin can be reached at sbegin@courant.com