CHESHIRE HOCKEY ALL IN THE FAMILY

From Germany and Latvia to Connecticut, hockey brings the Vasiljevs family together

Yes, visiting Germany or Latvia for a month in the summer is a cool experience for the sons of a former NHL player. Yet it was the chance to play on a team with his brother for the first time in his life that was an opportunity too special for Nik Vasiljevs to pass up this winter.

Still, who knew what COVID would bring? Who knew if there’d even be a season?

What Vasiljevs, the senior captain at Cheshire High, did know was he wanted a chance to play with his freshman brother Evan. And when the Rams, who started 0-5, were hurting for offense, he went to coach Anthony Giusto.

“Nik’s been our two-year captain, leading scorer the last three years, an allconference player, pretty much our best player since he was a sophomore,” Giusto said. “And Evan is following right in his footsteps.

“You never know with brothers, right? Sibling rivalry and things. Nik is Evan’s biggest fan. When we were struggling to score goals early in the season, Nik came to me and said, ‘Let’s try Evan on my line.’ That tells you a lot about a senior, not only to look out for his younger brother, but the hope to guide him along and share the success with him.”

The Rams have won their past four games and have their shot at No. 1 seed Lyman Hall on Wednesday night in the SCC/SWC Division II semifinals. Evan had his first hat trick in an 8-4 win over Guilford, while Nik had three goals and six points in the 7-5 win over Branford.

The league championship game is Saturday and with no state tournament in 2021, win or lose, this week is it for Nik at Cheshire.

“We’re playing for the seniors,” Evan said. “It has been a really short season, so getting the most out of it is everything. It’s great playing with Nik. He has helped me a lot. The whole team has helped me. Obviously, I wouldn’t be able to get the amount of points

half, all shots within three feet of the hoop.

Once Reilly got going and the Kolbe defense packed in on her in the second half, Pomperaug’s outside shooters were able to take advantage with a few clutch 3s by Claudia Schneider and Marina Lambiase in the third quarter.

Schneider finished with 12 points.

Pomperaug led by eight at halftime and 27-17 after three quarters.

Kolbe had opportunities to rally but were bit by the turnover bug all night.

“We turned the ball over almost every time we touched it,” Kolbe coach Devon Parker said. “We got kids, seniors, coming down the court on breakaway after breakaway and we couldn’t get one layup. That’s what it was. (Pomperaug) played a great 2-3 zone but we had too many turnovers. Then we get it to six and they hit a 3. Then we get it to six again and they hit another 3. But we turned the ball over way too many times. It’s frustrating because we beat ourselves tonight. I hate losing, but I really hate beating ourselves.”

Ciara Brown led Kolbe with a game-high 16 points.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Megan Reilly, Pomperaug: The junior not only led the team in scoring but also pulled down rebounds and made several key blocks.

QUOTABLE

“We have had a lot of success since have been her but we haven’t been to the finals since 2011,” Fortier said. “It is what we have talked about since the first game of the season since we lost to Notre Dame. We wanted to get back there and we want to get another shot at them.”