BOYS HOCKEY DIVISION III SEMIFINAL PREVIEW CAPSULES

NO. 2 SGWL (21-3-0) VS. NO. 3 CONARD (21-2-1)

WHEN: Monday, 5:30 p.m.

WATCH ONLINE: NFHS Network

TICKETS: Gofan.co

HOW THEY GOT HERE: SGWL — def. Shepaug co-op 3-2 (OT); def. Newtown/ New Fairfield 3-2.:

Conard — def. Enfield co-op 5-2; def. New Milford 3-2.

KEY PLAYERS: Noah Boyd, SGWL, Jr. G; Austin Renggli, SGWL, Sr. F; Ben Wosko, SGWL, Sr. D; Aiden Emery, Conard, Sr. F; Blake Ittleson, Conard, Sr. G; Nolan Trent, Conard, Sr. F.

OUTLOOK: Conard has been here before. The Red Wolves played in the 2022 final against Newington co-op, then returned to Quinnipiac last year but fell to Masuk in the semifinals. Several players have had a role in all three seasons; Trent and Emery have played together for years. All that’s left for this group is to bring home the program’s first title since 1996; it won its first conference title in some time when it took the final. For Suffield/Granby/Windsor Locks, it has been a little while: The Wildcats’ last playoff win before this season was the 2015 Division II championship game, in which Jake King played. King is now their coach. The team missed the playoffs last season, but a deeper group, including Wosko’s return from a year in junior hockey, has been strong from the start this time around. The Wildcats beat the Eastern Connecticut Eagles in the with Boyd stopping 27 of 28 shots. The Wildcats and Red Wolves didn’t meet this year but had similar results against their common opponents.

MIKE’S PICK: Conard

NO. 1 BBDI (20-3-1) VS. NO. 4 MASUK (15-8-0)

WHEN: Monday, 8 p.m.

WATCH ONLINE: NFHS Network

TICKETS: Gofan.co

HOW THEY GOT HERE: BBDI — def. Staples 3-2 (OT); def. Rocky Hill co-op 5-2.

Masuk — def. JBWA 7-0; def. E.O. Smith/Tolland 6-0.

KEY PLAYERS: Sasha Gelfand, BBDI, Sr. D; T.J. Miller, BBDI, Jr. F; Jovanni Smeriglio, BBDI, Jr. F; Luke Kondub, Masuk, Soph. F; Nick Kondub, Masuk, Sr. F; Maddex LaFountain, Masuk, Soph. G

OUTLOOK: This will be the SCC/SWC Division III rivals’ fourth meeting of the year: They split two one-goal games in the regular season, and BBDI won 4-2 in the conference semifinals on the way to a championship. Masuk is the defending champion and has a few key players back from that group; LaFountain made 24 saves in the 2023 championship game, a 6-3 win, and Nick Kondub had three points in that game. It was a sign of things to come: Kondub has 54 goals in 23 games, including 10 in the first two games of the CIAC tournament. He, brother Luke and junior Christian LaBella have combined for over 200 points. But Brookfield/Bethel/Danbury/Immaculate (the last of those is new to the co-op this year) has its own standouts, including Smeriglio, who scored in overtime both in the conference final against New Milford and in the first round of the CIAC tournament against Staples. Miller tied that Staples game in the final seconds and scored the go-ahead goal against Rocky Hill. BBD has only been to one final, falling to Guilford in 2010. MIKE’S PICK: Masuk