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Boys Hockey

West Haven answers bell, rallies past St. Joseph

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For three games to start the season, the West Haven hockey team made things look easy, outscoring its opponents by 17 goals.

Things were different Saturday afternoon.

Facing a St. Joseph team that was looking for its first victory, the Westies caught their first bit of adversity in the young season.

With a pair of power play goals and two short-handed tallies, West Haven responded and rallied from three one-goal deficits to defeat the Cadets 7-4 at the Edward L. Bennett Rink.

“For the first time this year, we faced some adversity,” West Haven head coach Steve Harris said. “We talked between the first and second periods, and we wanted to see how we were going to respond to it. We have been saying it from the start. Discipline is huge for us. If we start like that against teams like Fairfield Prep, Hamden or Notre Dame, that is going to hurt us out of the gate.”

West Haven freshman Ben Carfora led a balanced attack with two goals and two assists, senior Robbie Forleo had one goal and two assists, and fellow senior Kevin Moriarty added a pair of goals. Senior Richie Greene and sophomore Nico Bruneau each added one goal and an assist as the Westies improved to 4-0.

“It took us a while to get going,” Carfora said. “But, then we started to play our game. We started strong in the third and just continued that.”

West Haven held a 49-21 shot advantage, including 14-9 in the opening period, but trailed for the first time this season, including 2-1 at the end of the period.

The Cadets struck first 6 minutes, 56 seconds into the contest when Johnny Karafa took a shot which West Haven goaltender Jared Pliszka appeared to never see through a crowd. The Westies evened the contest 4:14 later when Greene scored in front off an assist from Kaden Morgillo.

In a back and forth contest, St. Joseph needed just 1:08 to take the lead once again as John McNabola sent Kyle Marcinko on a breakaway. Marcinko went to the backhand and roofed a shot past Pliszka to the top corner.

“Last year, we would have folded,” St. Joseph head coach Eddy Lemaire said of his team battling back to continually take the lead early in the contest. “This year, we battle back.”

The game saw plenty of chippy moments and included 19 minutes of penalties in the second period. When all was said and done, the middle period also saw five combined goals and a 4-4 tie heading to the third period.

West Haven’s special teams was the difference in the period as a power play goal and short-handed goal twice tied the contest for the Westies.

Moriarty evened the game at two just 2:45 into the second with a power play goal in front off assists from Forleo and Greene.

The Cadets again battled back 1:08 later when Mark Husted-Edward ripped a shot from the point past Pliszka for a 3-2 advantage. Carfora evened the game at three 1:39 later, taking a pass from Bruneau and firing into an empty net from in front.

With the game back to hockey after a host of penalties in the final eight minutes of the period, St. Joseph took its last lead of the game when Wyatt Chrisman scored with a backhander on a breakaway with 3:45 remaining in the period.

“We can’t win games being in the penalty box,” Lemaire said. “That is the bottom line.”

The Westies then stole the momentum in the final 30 seconds of the period. With West Haven down a man, Carfora picked up a loose puck in front and beat St. Joseph goaltender Tyler Stiewing to send the game to the final period even at four.

“He (Pliszka) made some big saves for us today,” Carfora said. “He was there when we needed him. We scored seven today, but (Pliszka) he made some big saves.”

The Westies picked up where they left off in the second period with a goal 1:04 into the third on the power play. Moriarty’s goal from in front, off assists from Forleo and Carfora, gave West Haven a 5-4 lead it never relinquished.

“Any time you score on the special teams, whether it is the power play or short-handed, it gives the team a boost,” Harris said. “St. Joseph played a great game. They played physical and came out ready to play. We were sloppy in the second period, but we got that late goal, then came out and regrouped for the third period.”

Carfora set up Bruneau in front with 9:07 to go for a 6-4 West Haven lead, and Pliszka and the West Haven defense did the rest, with Pliszka turning aside the only three shots he faced in the final period.

“I am happy with the win, but not happy with how we got it,” Harris said. “Jared (Pliszka) made some big saves for us, and the boys responded well.”

The final period saw 30 minutes of combined penalties.

Pliszka finished with 17 saves in the win, while Stiewing made 35 saves in the loss for St. Joseph.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Ben Carfora — Freshman led the Westies with two goals and two assists, including a short-handed goal to even the game at four in the final seconds of the second period.