Weston falls to Ellington in overtime in title game
HARTFORD — Owen Hoffman of Ellington blew out his right cleat in the second half and needed to borrow another from one of his teammates.
Little did Hoffman know that the state championship game would all come down to that borrowed shoe.
In the first of two overtime periods, Hoffman converted a penalty kick after being taken down inside the box.
That conversion was enough for No. 1 Ellington to win the CIAC Class M championship 2-1 over No. 7 Weston in overtime at Trinity Health Stadium in Hartford.
“My right cleat, halfway through the half, the whole back part came off,” Hoffman said. “My teammate, (Ankit) Roy, gave me his cleat, what a guy. I’ll probably end up keeping this one, what a great feeling.”
Hoffman was part of two Ellington teams which finished as runner-up in Class M in 2019 and 2021, making this one even sweeter for the senior.
It is a spot the Knights have been in before. Since 2013, Ellington has reached six championship games and only walked away with one championship, which came in 2014.
Ellington had lost the last three Class M championship games played in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Hoffman said. “This is my third one and they say ‘third time is a charm.’ Once we got that goal, we knew we would get another one and it happened.”
Ellington was trailing 1-0 and had no shots on goal in the second half when Caden Branon fed a ball into the middle for Ethan Mallett who found just enough space to fire, tying the game 1-1 with 2:55 to play.
The goal came against the flow of play as Weston had controlled the ball and scoring chances for the first 38 minutes of the second half before Borst’s goal.
“The better team lost. I don’t say that often but we completely outplayed them,” Weston coach Kevin Fitzsimmons said. “That’s what hurts the most. We teach our boys to play the game properly and we don’t kick and chase it. It’s hard to tell the lads, that all season you work on moving the ball and playing the game properly and it doesn’t matter.”
Weston was playing in its first state title game since 2005.
After a scoreless first half, the Trojans broke through with the game’s first goal with 25:47 to go when Casper Leary beat the charging keeper by tapping the ball over his head.
Despite Weston controlling the ball and getting quality shots on goal, the Trojans could not increase the lead, leaving the door open for the Knights.
“You just have to believe it can happen. that’s a really good team and we just kept believing and stuck with it,” Ellington coach Pat Gosselin said. “These kids really wanted it and we took advantage of the moment. These games are about moments and we ended up getting it.”
Ellington keeper Cole Leavitt made 14 saves, keeping his team in it.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Owen Hoffman, Ellington: Hoffman was named the MVP of the championship game after his gamewinning PK.
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“I told the kid who gave Owen his cleat, ‘if he slips again, it’s your fault,” Gosselin said. “Owen did a great job. He needs those cleats with the way he runs and cuts out there. Maybe he will keep that cleat now.”