WEST HAVEN — Notre Dame-West Haven’s John D’Errico says an important person in his life gets upset with him when he doesn’t give it his all on the ice.
“My mom gets frustrated with me when I don’t give it my all,” the senior forward said with a laugh
Heading into the postseason and with potentially three games left in his high school hockey career, the senior forward has made sure not to disappoint Mom. He’s taken his game to another level.
D’Errico scored four goals to lead the Green Knights past Xavier, 6-1, and into the SCC/SWC Division I finals, on Tuesday night. This after he scored three times in the win against Hamden in the quarterfinals.
“John D’Errico is on another planet right now,” Notre Dame-West Haven coach Larry Vieira said. “He is going (inside the posts) on shots. No goalie is going to make those saves. He’s just feeling it right now and obviously he’s leading the way.”
Notre Dame’s Michael Pilato scored early in the first to give the Green Knights the lead. Then D’Errico scored the next four goals.
“I don’t know to be honest,” D’Errico said when asked what is working for him. “I’m just shooting more, getting more chances. We’re getting a lot of 2-on-1 chances. The defense plays me to pass and lets me shoot, so I shoot.”
Notre Dame-West Haven advances to play Fairfield Prep in the SCC/SWC finals for the second year in a row at 6 p.m. on Friday night. Fairfield Prep won in a shootout last year.
The two have also met twice this season, Fairfield Prep won 4-2 the first time and the two teams tied in the last meeting.
The two also met in the 2019 Division state championship, a 5-2 Fairfield Prep win.
“We’ve been talking about Fairfield Prep for three years now and for three years we have come up short,” Vieira said. “We’re excited to play them. They are tremendously well coached and not only are they a tremendous team, but they are a tremendous program.
“We’re just honored to represent Notre Dame and to give this a shot.”
Sather’s hat-trick sends Fairfield Prep to finals
Fairfield Prep’s Aksel Sather scored three times in his team’s 5-2 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield in the SCC/SWC Division I semifinals on Tuesday night.
Notre Dame-Fairfield scored first, but Fairfield Prep responded with three straight goals to take a two-goal lead after the first period.
Tommy Martin made 14 saves in the victory.
