West Hartford’s Hall/Conard girls hockey team opened the season against East Catholic Wednesday night at Veteran’s Rink.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

After battling back from a two-goal deficit and a one-goal deficit in the third, the Hall/Conard girls hockey team fell to East Catholic in overtime 4-3 Wednesday night in West Hartford in the opener for both squads.

Hall/Conard came in at No. 6 in the state, the Storm at No. 7. Hall/Conard has just four seniors on the roster this year and will be looking for some underclassmen to step up. They are strong on defense with junior Lauren Busi back in goal along with the addition of Avery Freiday – a sophomore.

Seniors Fiona Campbell and Claire Reidel will be asked to anchor the blue line while senior captain Teagan Cohane, junior Paige Sweeney, and Avery Selstad will be asked to fill the net with pucks on offense.

Wednesday it was East Catholic that came out as the more aggressive team from the start. “They took our approach from last season when we played each other,” Hall/Conard head coach Jared Cohane said of the Storm. “Give them credit, they came out hard and physical.”

It took the visitors just 2:49 to get on the scoreboard. Charlotte Laramee intercepted a pass along the blue line and skated out in a 2-on-1 with teammate Deidre McKiernan. Laramee’s pass went off a defenseman and then McKiernan managed to push it back to her teammate who scored.

The Storm kept up the pressure and Allyson Dudzinski nearly doubled the lead but her breakaway shot went high. Then with just under seven minutes to play, Piper Royer had a good chance on the rebound for Hall/Conard, but goalie Madelin Maynard was there to cover. The first would end with Hall/Conard trailing by 1 and looking to pick up the energy and get back in the game.

The home team had a better start to the second period forcing Maynard to make an early save on a point shot and then denying Sweeney’s chance on the doorstep on a feed from Cohane coming out from behind the net. Just under halfway through, East Catholic would pick up its second of the game. After controlling an offensive zone faceoff, Dudzinski sent the puck behind the net where McKiernan picked it up. She came around the left side of Busi’s net and tried the backhander, which was stopped. The rebound sent right in front of the net and as Busi dove for it, Dudzinski beat her to the puck and punched it in for the goal.

Busi would turn in one of her best of the night near the end of the period when Hadley Domaingue came in on the rush and went forehand/backhand, but Busi stacked the pads to deny the chance. “Our key starts from the net,” said Cohane of his goalie tandem. “That is our foundation.”

Staring down a two-goal deficit with just 15 minutes to play, Hall/Conard began playing its best hockey at both ends of the ice. They scored their first of the game and the season just under five minutes in. Mia Longman found Campbell with a pass at the blue line and she let go a low shot. Cohane was in the perfect spot and tipped it past Maynard to make it a 2-1 game.

Just 67 seconds later the game would be tied when Paige Fiehl saw her bad angle shot on goal tipped past Maynard by one of her defensemen and it was a new game.

“We had said if we get one it will change the momentum,” coach Cohane said. “The girls responded to it and ramped up. It was even more impressive as we did it with two lines being rolled. They had played 30 minutes and just kept it up.”

Hall/Conard’s grit would be challenged 90 seconds later when it was the Storm getting the fortunate bounce.

Once again it was Dudzinski doing the damage as she fired a quick shot that squeezed between the pads of Busi. As the goalie turned to catch up to the puck, it hit her in the skate and slid across the goal line to give East Catholic the 3-2 lead with 6:27 to play.

Cohane’s team was not about to let the effort go to waste and with 4:54 to go it was Campbell again throwing the puck at the net – and as one former NHL coach preached, “Good things happen when you throw the puck at the net.” The puck bounced off someone in front of the net and things were tied at 3.

“Evening it up again is something to build off,” said Cohane. Busi and company would have to kill off a man advantage to keep things tied and send the game into overtime.

Hall/Conard took the opening face off and got a quick, good chance to score but the shot was wide. East Catholic went on the offense and carried the puck back into the attacking zone. When a Hall/Conard player tried a backhand clear into the center of the ice, it was Laramee picking off the pass, carrying it in on goal and going right to left, stretching Busi out, before sliding in the winning goal :30 into the extra time.

For Cohane it was a chance to see what his players could do in a first game. “We were a little tentative at times tonight, but we are going to play an aggressive, forechecking game and attack more going forward.”

Things don’t get any easier for Hall/Conard as they host five-time champion Darien on Saturday, before welcoming  Simsbury on Monday.

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