The West Hartford team is playing to help a community heal.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

The last two seasons have seen an amazing turnaround by the Hall/Conard girls hockey team.

Under head coach Jared Cohane and assistants Jenny Mancini and McKenna Gernander, a team that was 11-9-1 in 2023-24 went 19-4 a year ago and is 20-4 with one game to go this year. The team can put the cherry on the sundae Wednesday night when they meet No. 1 seed Darien in the Connecticut High School Girls Hockey Association State Tournament final at Quinnipiac University.

It will not be easy – as the Blue Wave are 21-1 this season, after going 22-0 a season ago when they won the title. Hall/Conard has played Darien close in both of their regular season games, but Darien has come away with a pair of 2-0 wins. Currently ranked No. 14 in the U.S., the Blue Wave program has been in eight of nine CHSGHA finals since the league was founded in 2015. Hall/Conard was state champion in 2012, and that win 3-2 in OT over New Canaan, could be seen as a harbinger of good things to come.

H/C entered the tournament as the sixth seed and advanced to this year’s final by beating … New Canaan … by a score of … 3-2 in OT. The game showed the grit of the team as they led the No. 2-seeded team twice, only to see the game get tied. In OT it was senior sniper Teagan Cohane finishing off the hat trick and the Rams on the Fiona Campbell assist. The game was scoreless after one, but Cohane gave H/C the lead in the second on a beautiful move to the slot through two New Canaan defenders before beating First-Team All-State goaltender Macyn Callahan high to the blocker side.

New Canaan battled back to tie it at 1. In the third it was Cohane again giving her team the lead when she banged in her own rebound with 11:19 to play. With :58 to play, and the Rams having pulled their goalie for the extra skater they tied things to send the semifinal to overtime.

It would have been easy for Hall/Conard to get down after conceding the late tying goal, but Jared Cohane delivered a message to his team: “You’ve played this same game four times over the past 10 days – you know what to do,” he told them.

It was just the latest battle for the team in tournament games. The West Hartford team was getting another outstanding game from goalie Avery Freiday and in overtime, it looked like New Canaan would prevail, with a partial breakaway, but Freiday stood tall, making her 30th save of the game, to deny the opportunity. Hall/Conard countered on the rebound with Fiona Campbell streaking down the right wall. She hit the offensive zone, headed for the corner, and put on the brakes. That move sent the New Canaan defender down to the ice and Campbell pulled the puck back, found a streaking Teagan Cohane heading for the back post, and the senior forward buried it for the win.

The play was a perfect example of what has been working for the team all season, but especially over the last dozen games. Campbell – voted All-State – has been terrific on defense and dangerous on offense, often leading the transition. Cohane, also an All-State selection – has been one of her team’s most dangerous snipers all season. Freiday and Lauren Busi had been splitting times between the pipes before Busi came down with the flu late in the season and Freiday has gone on to a 13-0 record since then as the starter.

“We know it’s a tall order,” Jared Cohane said of winning it all on Wednesday. “Darien is deep, fast, and physical – but our goaltending depth gives us a chance to win every game, and this one is no different,” he added.

Darien is lead by junior forward Adrianna Gromeiski who has 34 goals and 16 assists for 50 points this season, and junior defender Lila Fiorita who has 24-16 for 40 points. They have outscored opponents 122-23 over the season. Their only loss came to New Canaan earlier in the regular season.

“All the pressure is on Darien, and I know our group is prepared,” said Cohane. “These young women have worked their tails off for 50 practices since our first practice at 5 a.m. on Nov. 24 to have this opportunity.”

The tournament marked just the second time in the last three seasons that a team ranked out of the top four entering play made it to the final (Hall/Conard). Since Feb. 27, the West Hartford team has faced and beaten East Catholic (ranked No. 3 in the state and No. 1 in CCC Tournament) twice. The first was when Hall/Conard won the CCC Title for the second straight season and the second was six days later in states. Maddie Bean had the winner in the conference championship and freshman Piper Royer scored both goals in the 2-1 win for Hall/Conard in the state quarterfinals.

“Every player on the roster has earned this opportunity,” said Cohane. “The coaching staff and I believe in this group and, more importantly, the players believe in each other. You can see it in their eyes.”

Cohane also believes an upset win could go a long way in growing the game and sparking more girls to take up the sport, but more importantly he said it might also help heal a community that is hurting right now.

“It’s obviously been a heartbreaking time for our town with the tragic passing of Hall senior Camden Siegal, and I know for our team, this run has been a healing diversion. Regardless of the outcome, I truly hope that this run has given the West Hartford community something to feel good about, even for a little while.”

H/C, like the Hall boys’ team, is wearing a helmet sticker “Cam” in Camden Siegal’s memory. Hall boys coach Colin O’Connor procured the stickers for both teams.

The championship game is scheduled for Wednesday, March 11 at M&T Bank Arena at Quinnipiac University, with a 7 p.m. start.

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