BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – Wednesday afternoon featured the XL Center’s first ever, college club hockey game.
The game was between two club teams from the American College Hockey Association’s (ACHA) Division-2 between the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils (New Britain, CT) and the Westfield State University Owls (Westfield, MA). The Blue Devils pulled away in the third period for a 4-1 victory.
The game-winning goal came off the stick of CCSU’s Billy McKinley of Cheshire early in the third period when the Freshman whistled a wrist shot into the corner, top shelf to the glove side of the Owls’ netminder at 1:56, giving Central Connecticut State a 2-1 lead they would never relinquish.
The location of his shot wasn’t McKinley’s initial intention. “To be honest, I was looking to pass it to somebody coming off the (right) wing, but the defenseman backed off me, so I figured I would shoot it.”
A pretty good decision.
The Blue Devils’ goalie, Jon Sweeney of Woburn, MA made a strong save at 6:18 of the second period to keep the Blue Devils slim one-goal margin denying the bid of the Owl’s Riley Allen.
Central’s Chase Bertrand (Wolcott, CT) scooted down the right wing but was stopped by Westfield goalie, Ben Janks. Just over a minute later, the Blue Devils got the two-goal margin they were seeking.
Defenseman Nate McIntyre’s (Simsbury, CT) shot from the right point found the back of the net through a maze of sticks, skates, and legs at 10:26 giving Central a 3-1 lead.
“We didn’t start off so well. I think we were all a little overwhelmed getting to play here (at the XL Center). The coaches got us going in the second, and we finished strong,” McKinley said.
McKinley attended Wolf Pack games with his father over the years. As a kid, he once played in a youth game in between periods, as a goalie!
The Blue Devils gained control of the game in the third period as team captain, Joey Campisano, (Toms River, NJ) had a solid chance turned away. The Blue Devils played all three of their goalies one period each, and in the third, Adam Belair (Cromwell, CT) had a strong period between the pipes stopping the Owls’ Paul Baker, and then Tom Burgess (Somers, CT) who both made hard drives on the net.
The Blue Devils thought they had a fourth goal, but the officials ruled the puck was directed in by a sliding Kevin Murphy’s (Watertown, CT) hand, but the Blue Devils continued to press and eventually got the fourth goal.
Defenseman Jack Noble (Farmington, CT) capped off the scoring with 1:45 left in regulation with a shot from the left point. The puck had snake eyes and found a way into the back of the net for the final goal of the game.
The Blue Devils got the game’s first goal in the second period as McKinley raced down the left-wing side and retrieved a puck deep in that corner on the goal line and just let it fly. The puck somehow found it’s way into the short-side, hit the far post and went in at 9:56.
“I have no idea how that went in,“ McKinley said with a laugh. “I was really hoping for a rebound in front for one of the guys. No way did I think that was going in the net.”
Westfield State did answer back just 39 seconds later at 10:35, tying the game at one. Cormac Perry retrieved the rebound of Donovan McCormack’s shot and was able to slip it past Sweeney.
Central play their home games at the Newington Ice Arena (300 Alumni Rd, Newington, CT). Their next game is against Montclair State (New Jersey) on Saturday night at 9 pm.
NOTES:
Westfield State’s NCAA varsity program plays Division III in the MASAC conference. The most famous hockey grad of their program is current Nashville Predators head coach, Peter Laviolette. He played for the team from 1982-1986 on the Division III program. Laviolette also played on the 1988 US Olympic team in Sarajevo in what was then known as Yugoslavia, but is now Bosnia-Herzegovina. After the Olympics, Laviolette played his only NHL games, all 12 of them, with the New York Rangers.
Laviolette was a US Olympian again this time as team captain in 1993-94 for the team that played in Lillehammer, Norway. That group was coached by the late Tim Taylor (North Branford/Yale) and until last year’s games in PyeonChang, South Korea, was the last time US collegians and minor league players were used in the formation of the team.
Laviolette also coached the 2006 Team in Turin, Italy. His NHL resume also includes head coaching gigs with the New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, and the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Owls’ Jake Ratcliffe (Canterbury, NZ) is the only male, New Zealand-born athlete playing at any level in American college hockey. There is one female Division I player, goalie Grace Harrison (Auckland, NZ) of St. Lawrence (ECACHL-W).
The ACHA Regional post season tournaments are divided into four regionals. The Northeast games will be held in Albany, NY from March 1-3 and the national tournament will be held in Frisco, Texas starting March 21st.
