Conard hosted Enfield Monday night at Veterans Memorial Rink in West Hartford, earning the hard-fought win in overtime.

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Jack Eisenberg tipped in a point shot from Liam Alver at 3:58 of overtime as the Conard Red Wolves hockey team came from behind to beat Enfield 3-2 in a thrilling game.

“There was no defenseman on me,” said Eisenberg of the game winner. “It was a great shot from Liam and I managed to change it just enough for it to go in,” said the junior goal scorer. The win is a fitting final statement to a calendar year that saw Conard win the boys state title and start the new season undefeated at 3-0.

The first period saw both teams show flashes of offense with good scoring opportunities. Conard’s Brendan Murphy and the Eagles’ Bryant Cecire were both called upon to make big saves to keep the game scoreless. Eisenberg saw his shot off a face-off handled by Cecire, and moments later it was Muphy who stood tall killing a penalty. Ethan Samek let a shot go from the point while Enfield was buzzing the net,  but Murphy controlled it.

The period was ended with 1:55 on the clock when the referee found a problem with the safety netting in the corner of the Red Wolves’ defensive zone. Both teams were sent to their locker rooms while repairs were made and the time was played before the start of the second period. Conard’s effort over the first period was a bit lackluster, something that head coach Jason Olson said he was worried about after his team’s 6-0 win over Hall on Saturday.

“I was worried we’d be a little overconfident off the last win, and that was evident,” said Olson.

Just 1:07 into the second it was the Eagles getting on the scoreboard first. Gavin Wojick let fly a shot from the blue line into traffic in front of Murphy and his teammate Luke Pacholski got a stick blade on it to deflect into the net for the 1-0 lead.

“They (Enfield) have some good talent and are very deep,” Olson said. Conard had a great chance to answer when Torin McGoldrick and Eisenberg came in on a 2-on-1, but Eisenberg couldn’t direct the pass on net. Defenseman Dylan Smith was whistled off at 8:02 and Enfield nearly doubled its lead on the powerplay. Cooper Love collected a puck at the blue line and sent a high shot on net. Quinn Stefanowich deflected the shot down, past Murphy for the apparent goal, but the referee immediately waived it off, ruling that Stefanowich struck the puck with a high stick.

Conard finally got on the board with their own powerplay goal with just over a minute to go in the second. Love was called for an elbow in his own defensive zone at 1:10. The face-off came to Cecire’s left, and Eisenberg grabbed the loose puck and from the side went high glove on the Eagles net minder to tie things at 1 just :06 into the man advantage.

“We really needed that first goal,” Olson said. “That really gave us a lift and was just huge for us.”

With 15.7 seconds left in the second things got chippy when Conard players crashed the net on a rebound, and players from both sides started pushing and cross checking. When the officials sorted it out, Conard was left with the power play after Enfield drew the extra minor. The second period was more physical and livelier for both teams, with each side having long stretches where they controlled play in their attacking zone.

Carrying the advantage into the third, the Red Wolves’ Brady Narus nearly broke the tie when his shot clanked off the left post just :38 in. Enfield managed to kill off the penalty but Conard picked up the momentum that would lead to a go-ahead goal. A long shot from Conard went wide of the net and rebounded back in front to Henry Tamaccio who drove it home from the top of the left circle.

That goal lit a fire under the Eagles as they began to dominate play, keeping Conard bottled up in its defensive zone and making Murphy work hard on multiple saves. With 9:30 to go, Zach Davey scored the tying goal for the visitors, paying off all the pressure.

The host Red Wolves got their offense clicking again with about three minutes and McGoldrick broke between defenders and managed to poke the puck on net as he fell, but Cecire pushed the shot wide and took care of a rebound shot from the opposite side.

Two other chances for Conard were also handled by the Enfield goalie and the game was heading for a sudden death, eight-minute overtime period with the score tied at 2.

Once again it was Enfield getting the early pressure and Wojcik nearly ended things about 3 minutes in when he cut across the face of the goal, but could not get his stick on a point shot to deflect it on Murphy’s goal. Just under a minute later it was Eisenberg tipping in Alver’s point shot, sending the Conard players and fans into a frenzy of celebration.

“This was great competition,” said Eisenberg. “After the first period we started to turn it around and we knew we just had to keep shooting.”

Conard outshot Enfield 30-21 with both defenses doing solid work to keep the majority of them from the outside giving their goalies a chance to see the puck. “I was not thrilled with our start but they found a way to win in a hard-fought, fun game,” Olson said. “The fact that we hung in shows we’ve got a group that finds a way to win.”

The Red Wolves are back in action on Friday when they meet Daniel Hand in Northfield. It will be a meeting of unbeatens as the Tigers – ranked No. 1 in Division II – have won their first four games of the young season.

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