Hall moves on to the quarterfinals of the CIAC Division III boys hockey tournament with a win over Newington in West Hartford on Monday.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Tom Finley scored two goals 1:37 apart in the second period and Matthew Bonner had 31 saves as the Hall Titans moved into the quarterfinals of the Division III State Hockey Tournament with a 4-2 win over Newington on Monday.

“These kids are locked in and playing great hockey,” said Hall coach Colin O’Connor.

The past 72 hours have presented huge challenges and big rewards for the Titans, who beat Conard to win the CCC title Friday night and rolled into Monday’s tournament opener. They managed to pull off the win against Newington down two players – including defenseman Dylan McDermott who missed the game due to illness.

“This has been exciting and shows what we are capable of,” said Finley.

The Titans started the game off strong with Finley having two good scoring chances early and his teammates having a 3-on-1 chance, but none ended in a goal. A big part of the early Hall pressure came from well timed pinch-ins at the point by the defense, keeping the puck in the offensive zone, and preventing Newington from getting their own offense going.

Hall struck first at 5:50 when Zach Gerken had one of those holds at the blue line and let a wrister go at the net. Declan Stone was cruising in front of the goal and his stick may have distracted goalie Anderson Claffey as Gerken’s shot went by him for the 1-0 Titan lead.

Newington was able to pull even 2:05 later on the power play when Sawyer Hollander took an interference call. Newington had a shot go wide and then Paxton Kelly tried to jam the rebound past Bonner but the junior goalie had his pads in place. Kelly pulled back the loose puck and fed Jack Petronio as he skated in unmarked, and he put the puck past Bonner to tie it just :07 into the power play.

The Nor’easters defense blocked several Hall shots and Claffey turned in a solid glove save off Thomas Lahey. With :29 to go Newington had one more chance to score, but Bonner squeezed his pads to the post to keep things tied.

Starting the second period, it was Newington with the early chance as Bonner had to come up with the glove save less than one minute in. Hall broke the tie less than a minute later when Finley came into the zone, cut between two defenders, and fired off the wrister. He followed it with a leap into the glass in front of the Hall student section that looked like it was going to take down the plexiglass!

Newington nearly tied it moments later when Ethan Lindquist snapped off a rising wrister that Bonner blocked with his shoulder. With just under 12 minutes to go, Hall got a scare when Bonner was run into and stayed down on the ice. It started when Petronio chipped the puck past a Hall defenseman along the boards, he headed for the net, and Bonner stopped with his pads. The puck was loose and Newington’s Josh Beaudoin came in for the rebound and his stick came up and hit Bonner in the collarbone, neck area, sending the goalie to the ice. He was down in the crease for several minutes being checked on by the trainer before staying in the game.

Beaudoin was sent off on the play and it was the first of three times he and Bonner came together, drawing the ire of Hall’s players.

The Titans and Finley made Newington pay for the interference when Finley scored his second of the period just :04 into the power play. Finley won the ensuing faceoff and the puck went to Connor McHugh. He let a shot go and Finley headed to the net and tipped it past Claffey for the 2-1 lead.

“Both goals felt great,” Finley said. “But the second goal show how we share the puck and score.”

As Newington looked to tie it up it was Gerken making the block on a Mason Buckley shot, but the Nor’easters would soon benefit from the combination of some puck luck and a perfect shot.

Petronio whipped the puck into the Hall zone from just over center ice, but the rocket hit Hall defenseman Jack Croce in the ankle, knocking him down and leaving the puck lying square in the middle of the goal about 15 feet out. As Croce – clearly in pain – tried to het up and back to the puck, Newington’s Paxton Kelly cruised in and let a wrister go over Bonner’ shoulder making it 3-2 at 7:08 of the second.

Sawyer Hollander, who was a standout on defense over the final two periods, drilled Petronio as the forward moved in for a shot, separating him from the puck. After that both teams started laying the body on each other as the game turned a little chippy for several minutes. Newington began a steady turn of possession and rushes into the attacking zone, but Hall’s defense had the answer. Bonner produced a solid save when Newington came in one the 2-on-1, but the junior goalie was there to make a pad save and cover the puck.

With under :30 to play in the second, Petronio laid a pass out to the front of the net that Daniel Robison one-ticketed for the right side of the net, but Bonner flashed the pad for the 5-bell save and then James Slavin had a chance on the rebound that either hit a defender in front or Bonner got to. Then, with :03 to go, Petronio used a Hall defender perfectly as a screen and snapped off a wrister that clanged off the post.

In the second Newington outshot Hall 16-4 and held a 23-14 advantage for the game at that point.

The Nor’easters nearly tied it up just :34 into the third when Petronio – who was everywhere for Newington – grabbed a turnover in the Hall defensive zone and went forehand, backhand as he came to the net, but Bonner had the pads and his body in place to deny. Each team took a penalty in the third but could not score, and Hollander had another strong standup stick check to knock the puck off the stick of an on-rushing Newington forward.

With 7:25 to play, Finley and McHugh were harassing Newington with a stiff forecheck and their efforts paid off with the game’s final goal. McHugh poked to puck off a Newington player’s stick between the blue line and center ice. As he kept moving forward, Finley sent a backhand pass onto McHugh’s stick, in stride, and he came in and beat Claffey to the glove side to give Halll the two-goal lead.

Bonner and the defense made the lead stand up even when Newington pulled Claffey to get the extra attacker on the ice.

“Our team defense has been fantastic overall and with a high-scoring offense, we have to work to keep the puck out of our net,” O’Connor said. “We are still motivated from earlier in the season when we didn’t show who we are,” Finley said. “There’s no time to get tired now.”

No. 8 seeded Hall will now wait to see who and where they play their next game on Thursday. It will either be a road game at No. 1 seed Wilton or they will host the 16-seed Spartans at home if they knock off Wilton. It will not be an easy road either way for Hall to keep moving on, but right now O’Connor is going to enjoy the ride and show his pride in his team. [Update: Hall will travel to face No. 1 Wilton on Thursday, at 6:45 p.m. at West Haven High School.)

“We had two or three guys step in tonight for us,” he said after the Newington win. “Tommy (Finley) has been amazing since Senior Night. He is the definition of team guy. It is all about team success with him,” said the coach.

As for his goalie, O’Connor knows that if the Titans are going to continue towards a state title, Bonner’s play will be a big part of it. “He has been fantastic in our last three games,” O’Connor said. I thought he was fantastic for us tonight, especially stopping those two or three breakaways.”

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