Graham Kennedy makes a move during a 3-0 shutout against Newington.
By BRIAN JENNINGS
STAFF WRITER
The Warrior-Knight ice hockey team had their best week yet with a total of 14 goals in the first two shutouts of the season.
Win vs. Newington
JAN. 25—The co-op ended their three-game skid by recording their first shutout, 3-0, of the season over winless Newington Co-op at home on Wednesday.
“I would have liked to have seen a little faster, more cleanly executed effort,” said Hall-Southington head coach Brian Cannon. “We didn’t play badly. We controlled the vast majority of the game, but we still left few too many holes for them to be able to jump into or jump out of.”
Miles Aronow, Jeremy Fortin, and Anthony Abbatiello each scored a goal in the game. Fortin, Michael DiPietro, and Nate Zmarlicki contributed with assists.
Zach Monti recorded his first career shutout by saving all of Newington’s 15 shots on goal.
“He had good rebound control,” said Hall-Southington assistant coach Michael Bilas. “He’s done a good job with squaring up shots on bad angles. He gets into trouble when scrambles in front of the net, trying to be strong on the puck. But we’re getting a lot out of him because that was a big question mark going into the season.”
Hall-Southington took 27 on goal and and committed five of the eight penalties in the game.
Wednesday night was Colby Glidden’s first game back since missing the first eight games with an injury.
“Colby is helping us,” said Cannon. “He adds a fairly strong presence back there with some strength and some ability to read the ice. He gets the puck on and off his stick with authority. It’s nice to have him back.”
Win vs. Taconic
JAN. 28—A few days later, the Warrior-Knights capped off the week by achieving their largest win on the year with an 11-0 triumph over Taconic, Mass. at home. The Warrior-Knights scored nine of their 11 goals in the third period. The Warrior-Knights scored three goals in 26 seconds to open the third period.
Dusty Kilgore scored the hat trick with three goals in the contest. DiPietro (2), Drew Booth (2), Will Carpenter, Sam Kerrigan, Andrew Mitchell, and Abbatiello scored goals as well. Zmarlicki (4), DiPietro (3), Kilgore (2), Jacob Herz (2), Mitchell, Jacob Mohr, Graham Kennedy, and Christian Mohr contributed with assists.
Monti saved 10 shots on goal, and Matt Carlson stopped three. Hall-Southington took 62 shots on goal and committed three of the nine penalties in the game.
The Warrior-Knights will look to extend their two-game winning streak this week when they host Wethersfield-Middletown-Rocky Hill-Plainville (8-2) and Masuk (4-6). WMRP is currently fourth in Division III. Hall-Southington is currently 4-5-1 overall and 10th in Division III.
To comment on this story or to contact sports writer Brian Jennings, email him at bjennings@southingtonobserver.com.