Fairfield Prep celebrates its win over Notre Dame of West Haven in SCC Div. I hockey championship in West Haven, Conn., on Friday Mar. 6, 2020.
The defending champions are back on top of the GameTimeCT Boys Hockey Top 10 Poll as the CIAC playoffs begin.
Fairfield Prep hopped over Darien to the top spot in a bit of a split vote; three teams got first-place nods. The Jesuits are seeking their third straight Division I title, and they’re coming off a shootout win over No. 4 Notre Dame-West Haven in the SCC/SWC Division I final.
CIAC BOYS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT SCOREBOARD / SCHEDULE
Darien dropped to No. 2 after falling to No. 3 New Canaan in the FCIAC final. The final four in the CIAC tournament could be Fairfield Prep against New Canaan and Darien against Notre Dame. No. 5 Greenwich played a tight one against Darien in the FCIAC semifinals, too.
No. 6 Xavier and No. 7 Ridgefield stayed where they were, as did SCC/SWC Division II champ Branford at No. 8.
No. 9 Notre Dame-Fairfield and No. 10 Simsbury swapped places after Simsbury lost in overtime to Northwest Catholic in the CCC North semifinals.
The GameTimeCT Boys Hockey Top 10 Poll (March 9)
| TEAM (1st place votes) | REC | PTS | LAST | DIV | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 1. FAIRFIELD PREP (8) | 13-6-2 | 134 | 2 | I | |||
| Last Week: def. Notre Dame-West Haven 3-2 (SO), SCC/SWC Div. I final. Next Game: Tuesday vs. Immaculate (Wonderland), 6 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Jesuits got a couple of forwards back from injury late in the regular season, filling out their four lines. Defenseman Teddy Gravanis was out sick on Friday but should be back this week. |
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 | 2. DARIEN (4) | 18-5 | 125 | 1 | I | |||
| Last Week: def. Greenwich 2-1, FCIAC semifinal; lost to New Canaan 4-3, FCIAC final Next Game: Tuesday vs. Northwest Catholic (Darien Ice House), 5 p.m. The Bottom Line: Interesting flip; some voters dropped the Blue Wave to third, while some kept them on top. Individual voters' reasonings presumably varied. Ah well, two weeks and votes won't matter. |
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 | 3. NEW CANAAN (2) | 19-2-1 | 115 | 3 | I | |||
| Last Week: def. Ridgefield 3-2 (2OT), FCIAC semifinal; def. Darien 4-3, FCIAC final. Next Game: Tuesday vs. St. Joseph (Darien Ice House), 7:40 p.m. The Bottom Line: Since that 10-2 loss to Darien on Feb. 8, the Rams have won eight in a row, the state's longest win streak going into the state tournament. |
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 | 4. NOTRE DAME- WH | 14-7 | 102 | 4 | I | |||
| Last Week: lost to Fairfield Prep 3-2 (SO), SCC/SWC Div. I final. Next Game: Saturday vs. West Haven/Xavier winner, site and time TBA. The Bottom Line: The Green Knights draw a bye to the quarterfinals as the top seed in 15-team Division I. Their five state losses are all to Darien and Fairfield Prep. |
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 | 5. GREENWICH | 13-7-1 | 78 | 5 | I | |||
| Last Week: lost to Darien 2-1, FCIAC semifinal. Next Game: Tuesday vs. West Haven (Hamill), 4:30 p.m. The Bottom Line: That conference semifinal against Darien was a heck of a game. The Cardinals are 12-3-1 in their past 16 games, 12-2 in-state in that stretch, with the losses to New Canaan and Darien by a goal apiece. |
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 | 6. XAVIER | 10-7-3 | 65 | 6 | I | |||
| Last Week: Did not play. Next Game: Tuesday vs. Fairfield (Wesleyan), 5 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Falcons had three regular-season overtime wins and some competitive losses against good teams. Can they get themselves over the hump in big games this week? |
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 | 7. RIDGEFIELD | 12-10 | 51 | 7 | I | |||
| Last Week: lost to New Canaan 3-2 (2OT), FCIAC semifinal. Next Game: Tuesday at Simsbury (ISCC), 6:10 p.m. The Bottom Line: Simsbury came down to the Winter Garden two weeks ago and beat Ridgefield 1-0. The Tigers seek to return the favor on Tuesday after two overtime games in the FCIAC playoffs. |
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 | 8. BRANFORD | 19-2-1 | 43 | 8 | II | |||
| Last Week: def. East Haven 7-0, SCC/SWC Div. II semifinal (Bennett); def. North Haven 1-0, SCC/SWC Div. II final Next Game: Monday vs. South Windsor (Northford), 6 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Hornets have won three consecutive tournaments now: Last year's SCC/SWC Division II tournament, last year's CIAC Division II, and the conference championship again. |
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 | 9. NOTRE DAME-FAIRFIELD | 10-8-2 | 20 | 10 | I | |||
| Last Week: Did not play. Next Game: Tuesday vs. Hamden (Rinks at Shelton), 7:30 p.m. The Bottom Line: Xavier had a one-day-longer layoff than the Lancers, off since Feb. 29. And that's nothing: Hamden has been off since Feb. 22. Who shakes the rust first? |
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 | 10. SIMSBURY | 13-7-1 | 15 | 9 | I | |||
| Last Week: lost to Northwest Catholic 4-3 (OT), CCC North semifinals Next Game: Tuesday vs. Ridgefield (ISCC), 6:10 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Trojans' season went in surges: three wins in a row to start, six wins in a row at midseason, four wins to close the regular season. Do they have one more surge? |
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| Dropped out: None. First-place votes in parentheses and points tabulated on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Records through Monday, March 2 |
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| Others receiving votes: Hand (17-3-1) 9; Farmington Valley (18-3-1) 8; Fairfield (12-9-0) 2; West Haven (11-8-1) 2; WMRP (19-3-0) 1. | ||||||||
| The following voted: Media: Luke Devoe, CTHSHockey.org; Erik Dobratz, WTNH-8; Michael Fornabaio, Connecticut Post; Tim Jensen, Patch Media Corp.; Greg Lederer, Cheshire Herald; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Dan Nowak, New Haven Register; Pete Paguaga, Hearst Connecticut Media; Jim Stout, MaxPreps.com. Coaches: Ken Barse, Glastonbury; Dean Diamond, Housatonic; Shaun Gallagher, Ridgefield; Matt Sather, Fairfield Prep; Larry Vieira, Notre Dame-West Haven. Poll compiled by Michael Fornabaio |
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