Late drama
Ertl, Ahern lift Ridgefield over Fairfield co-op in OT
DANBURY — Heading into the FCIAC tournament, Ridgefield almost didn’t have its starting goalie.
Henry Ertl nursed a strained back during February break and at one point thought his season was over.
Fast forward two weeks and Ertl might be the hottest goalie in the state.
Ertl stood tall, once again, stopping all 37 shots he faced, keeping his No. 9 Tigers in the FCIAC title game.
His teammates finally helped him out late in overtime, when James Ahern ripped a shot into the back of the net, winning the FCIAC title 1-0 over the No. 3 Fairfield co-op.
“When we scored to end the game and win it all, that’s when I knew it worked,” Ertl said of his play.
The junior was in the zone for the last week, shutting out all three opponents the Tigers faced.
“It’s unreal, I came into the season, I didn’t think I would start,” Ertl said. “I just worked hard and now we’re FCIAC champs.”
He made close to 100 saves in the three games, including 37 each in the semifinals and finals, both 1-0 wins.
“Terrific kid, great kid and he stood on his head today. We threw everything we had at him,” Fairfield co-op coach Mark Mongillo said. “I told my guys, you played a perfect game and it was just a bad bounce.”
Ertl came up big a couple of times, but none more memorable then stoning two breakaway chances for the Fairfield co-op in the second period.
“If you don’t give up a goal in a three-game tournament, it’s a very special thing,” Ridgefield coach Shaun Gallagher said. “It was quite a performance. He stole the show.”
Ahern’s goal came with 2:08 left.
“It popped right in front, I shot it on goal, and it went in,” Ahern said. “I was just trying to put it on goal.”
The senior’s goal sent the Tiger faithful into a craze and clinched the Tigers’ first FCIAC title since 2019.
Fairfield co-op has one of the best offenses in the state, but weren’t able to figure out Ertl.
“I’m a little rattled because those guys deserved it too,” Gallagher said. “You hate to see how upset they were.
“Being a coach as long as I have been, it’s bittersweet for me to see that. I love it on my end, but my heart does break for those guys on their end.”
While most teams are upset if they lose in the conference championship game, this one stung a little more for the Fairfield co-op.
The co-op won’t be moving on to play in the state tournament on Tuesday.
In September of 2021, the CIAC’s co-op committee reviewed and rejected the Fairfield co-op’s application to renew its co-op because one of the schools has enough players to form its own program.
Instead of breaking up, the program opted to play together, knowing they wouldn’t be able to compete in the state tournament.
The program tried to get it overturned, creating a petition that has over 2,000 signatures, but it was for naught.
The FCIAC tournament would be the only postseason play the co-op would see.
“That was our message going into the tournament,” Mongillo said. “Everything before about states and all that stuff was out of our hands.”
The co-op left it all on the ice, knowing it was their final time together.
“This hurts more than anything I have ever had to experience in my life,” Fairfield co-op captain Finn Hoey said. “I think we have had it worse than any other team.”
The senior forward has been on the team since he was a freshman and has been a caption for the last three years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic there has been no state tournament in hockey the past two years.
“For Ridgefield, this is a great win, but if they lose this game, they move on to states,” he said. “For us, we are done. It’s very unfortunate.
“We took that the whole season to push us and that’s why we got here.”
Ridgefield, which has won four straight, has a date with
Simsbury on Tuesday in the first round of the Division I state tournament with a potential date against SCC champinpion and No. 1 Notre Dame-West Haven in the quarterfinals.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Henry Ertl, Ridgefield: The junior goalie continued his hot streak, stopping all 37 shots to shutout the highpowered Fairfield co-op offense. Ertl finished the tournament with a 3-0 record, 0.00 GAA and three shutouts.
QUOTABLE
“Notre Dame-West Haven, oh my god I would love to play them. They’re a great team, coached by a great guy. They do a great job over there. I think that would be a fast paced, good game.” — Fairfield co-op senior Finn Hoey on playing one more game against the No. 1 Notre Dame-West Haven team.