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Boys Hockey

Erickson, No. 4 Darien rally to tie No. 2 New Canaan

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New Canaan’s Doster Crowell (15) and Darien goalie Teddy DeBeradinis play the puck during a boys ice hockey game at the Darien Ice House on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021.

DARIEN — The Darien boys ice hockey team was undermanned, on a two-game losing skid, and facing a three-goal deficit against its rival.

For Sam Erickson, it was time to answer the bell.

Erickson ripped off a shot to the far top corner for a power play goal in the second period, and jump-started the No. 4 Blue Wave, which rallied and forged a 4-4 tie with No. 2 New Canaan Wednesday night at the Darien Ice House.

Matt Stein’s goal off an assist from Erickson with 54.1 seconds remaining was the equalizer and the rivals then went scoreless during an eight-minute overtime.

With Jamison Moore and Luke Johnston both out of action, Erickson was the lone Darien captain on the ice and he played the role perfectly during the comeback.

“Sam Erickson was the leader out there tonight, there’s no doubt about that,” Darien coach Mac Budd said. “He played a tremendous game, a very unselfish game, and he logged a lot of minutes. Obviously, we were down some guys, he’s one of the guys who can put the puck in the net for us, so we relied on him a lot tonight.”

“Being the only captain out there, I felt like it was necessary to take that step forward and lead the team,” Erickson said. “On the power play, I said I’m bringing it down by myself and I’ll pick up the team on my back and we’ll keep building from there.”

The game was the first meeting between the rivals since last year’s FCIAC final, which was won by the Rams 4-3. Wednesday’s game followed a similar track, with New Canaan gaining the advantage early and Darien turning up the heat as the game progressed.

After having a three-goal lead slip away and settling for a tie, the Rams were disappointed with the tie, which was a positive sign, according to coach Clark Jones.

“This was a game where they wanted it as bad as we did, they made as many mistakes as we did, and we both did some good things,” Jones said. “The good sign from tonight was it felt like a major loss to them. Sometimes you go through something like that and a team’s ok with it, but they are not ok with it tonight.”

The scoring started with a wild flurry midway through the first period, as the teams combined for three goals in 36 seconds.

Erickson gave Darien the initial lead at 6:01, but New Canaan’s Jack Johnson tied it at 6:25. Just 12 seconds later, Sam Ives hit the back of the net for a 2-1 Rams’ lead.

Jack Eccleston then made it 3-1 for New Canaan when he scored his fourth goal in as many games with 5.6 seconds remaining in the first period.

Carter Spain scored with an assist from Michael Rayher early in the second period for the 4-1 lead, but Erickson’s goal later in the frame closed the gap to 4-2 going to the third.

After Patrick Thurlow pulled the Wave within a goal with 10:44 remaining, Stein and Erickson teamed up for the equalizer in the final minute.

“We need to take advantage of opportunities,” Jones said. “I don’t think offensively we’ve really caught stride yet. We’ve got guys who I think can produce significantly more who for whatever reason just aren’t right now. Darien does a good job of getting to the net and getting gritty and we need a little bit more of that moving forward.”

“The leadership from the first and second lines just showed that if you grind it out, it can really happen,” Erickson said. “It was more, now really what we said, but what we did.”

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Sam Erickson, Darien: With co-captains Luke Johnson and Jamison Moore both sidelined, Erickson stepped up in a big way, scoring two goals and assisting on Matt Stein’s tying goal in the final minute.

QUOTABLE

“We got off to a really slow start, New Canaan’s a helluva team, and they’re explosive. I give our team a lot of credit for fighting back. It would be easy to roll over after two pretty tough losses that we’ve had, but they fought like hell in the second and third and I’m really happy with that.” – Darien coach Mac Budd


No. 4 DARIEN 4, No. 2 NEW CANAAN 4 (OT)

DARIEN 1 1 2 0 — 4

NEW CANAAN 3 1 0 0 — 4

Scoring: First period: D – Sam Erickson (Ryan Spengler), 6:01; NC – Jack Johnson (Eren Geray), 6:25; NC – Sam Ives (Carter Ellis, Doster Crowell), 6:37; NC – Jack Eccleston (Boden Gammill, Gavin Reid), 14:55; Second period: NC – Carter Spain (Michael Rayher), 1:36; D – Erickson (James Conway), power play, 8:42; Third period: D – Patrick Thurlow (Mathison Hole, Elliott Lancaster), 4:16; D – Matt Stein (Erickson), 14:09.

Goalies: D – Teddy DeBeradinis 19 saves; NC – Beau Johnson 34 saves.

Records: Darien (1-2-1), New Canaan (2-1-1).