New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Completing a goal
Petersen’s OT winner lifts North Haven to title
HAMDEN — The first shot trickled away off his stick, but Alex Petersen straightened up and stayed square. So when the puck came back to him in the right circle 5:35 into overtime, he was ready.
“I just thought, I’m not missing this one,” North Haven senior Petersen said.
Petersen’s wrist shot inside the right post, his seventh goal in four games in the CIAC Division II tournament, gave the Nighthawks a 2-1 win over Woodstock Academy and the school’s third hockey championship Tuesday night at Quinnipiac’s M&T Arena.
A year after falling to Wethersfield in the championship game to end a 233-0 season, the Nighthawks
finished 24-2-0 with a title.
“I saw the seniors leave this rink literally a year ago today, and it was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen,” Petersen said. “I didn’t want to feel the same way.”
Brother Bryce Petersen made 34 saves — only a second-period goal-mouth scramble eluded him, and he thought he should’ve got a whistle before that — and Tommy Guidone’s goal with 5:30 left in regulation sent the game to overtime.
“I think I’m the most happy for this senior class,” said Nighthawks coach Chris Avena, a champion for the first time in a long coaching career.
“They played in the final game all four years. Granted, one was cut short by COVID, but still . ... To win the way we did, I couldn’t be happier for them and everyone else in that locker room.”
The Nighthawks, ranked eighth in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll coming into the CIAC playoffs, also won the SCC/ SWC Division II championship this season for the third year in a row. Since New Year’s Day 2022, North Haven is 45-2 against Connecticut teams.
The school was also Division II champion in 1980 and 2004.
These two teams met Jan. 11, a 5-1 North Haven win in which the Nighthawks didn’t give Woodstock much. On Tuesday, the Centaurs (23-2-0, Nutmeg Conference champions) played them even.
“We were healthy” Tuesday, firstyear Centaurs coach Mark Smolak said. “We had Noah (Sampson, topline center) at full strength. We had Dante (Sousa, brilliant with 30 saves) locked-in, dialed.
“Coming into the tournament, he wanted some recognition, to show people who he was. I think all our guys did. ... We’re on the other side of the state. People don’t see us often. It was good to see us put our name on the map, to show we’re here, and here to stay.”
North Haven split up a top line of Guidone, Alex Petersen and Will Sullivan, using Petersen, Nolan Cole and Bryce Montabana with defensemen Joey Taft and Owen Quick to counter the potent Woodstock unit of Sampson, Maxx Corradi and Donny Sousa, Dante’s brother.
“We knew they’re very fast, and they like that cross-ice pass outside the mash marks across the middle,” Alex Petersen said. “Coach put in a third-guy-high thing to try to shut that down so they had to either ice it or there’d be just a turnover to a defenseman. It worked.”
Montabana suffered a first-period concussion, though, which tweaked the plan, and after second-period power plays left them together anyway, the original Guidone-Sullivan-Petersen line returned.
“We really liked that game plan in the beginning. We thought it was working really well in the beginning of the game,” Avena said.
“Then we’re down, and it’s like, ‘hey you guys are seniors, this is your year, let’s go.’”
Woodstock Academy scored 149 goals this season. North Haven allowed the Centaurs only two in 95 minutes, one short-handed in the regular season, one in Tuesday’s second period as the Nighthawks tried to recover after a power play expired. Donny Sousa found a loose puck in the crease with 3:31 left in the second period before Taft could dive across to stop him.
“After that period, we were back in the locker room talking, and I said to them, all I need is two goals from you guys,” Bryce Petersen said. “Give me a lead, I’ll hold it. I did. I trusted my team to get the job done, and they did.”
North Haven’s first goal came on the rush, Alex Petersen dropping the puck off to Sullivan for a pass across to the right circle to Guidone.
Guidone had a chance to end it earlier in overtime, but Woodstock freshman defenseman Ian Sherman dove across to block his open-net try with his right thigh. Then Sullivan’s pass went through Guidone and off a defenseman’s skate to set up Alex Petersen’s first, fanned-on shot.
He did not miss the second. “I didn’t believe it. I thought I was going to wake up from a dream,” Bryce Petersen said of his view from the other end of the ice. “It was amazing. I blew the other student section a couple of kisses goodbye. Great feeling.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
North Haven senior forward Alex Petersen was instrumental defensively and scored the championship-winner in overtime.
WAITING HIS TURN
Bryce Petersen, a senior, backed up two all-state goalies the past three years, Andrew Sacco, then Jared Anderson.
“Sacco was just a great competitor,” Petersen said, “fought every single game. He loved to win and wanted to win every single game. Jared being that cool head, that stoic person in the locker room. He was able to bring down the energy at a good level. To be able to mix those two together was really helpful for me.” NORTH HAVEN 2, WOODSTOCK ACADEMY 1 (OT) WOODSTOCK ACADEMY ........................... 0 1 0 0—1 NORTH HAVEN ........................................... 0 0 1 1—2 Goals: WA—Donny Sousa; NH—Tommy Guidone, Alex Petersen. Assists: WA—Maxx Corradi, Noah Sampson; NH—Will Sullivan, Alex Petersen. Goalies: WA—Dante Sousa (30 saves); NH—Bryce Petersen (34). Shots: WA—35; NH—32. Records: Woodstock Academy 23-2-0; North Haven 24-2-0.