West Hartford’s Hall/Conard hockey team hosted Avon on Monday night to open the 2024-2025 season.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

Teagan Cohane gets off a backhander. Hall/Conard girls hockey. Dec. 9, 2024. Courtesy photo

Submitted 

It took the Hall/Conard girls hockey team two periods to get things going in their season ice hockey opener with the Avon Nighthawks. Unfortunately for the home side, the visitors needed just a little over one period to get their game moving.

The Nighthawks scored twice in the opening 3:41 of the second period and held on for the 2-1 lead.

First year head coach Jared Cohane had just two seniors in his lineup Monday for Hall/Conard and it took his team 30 minutes of play, plus an intermission, to see some of what he hoped to see from his team. “We got our intensity going in the third,” he said. “We reset between periods and got back to our core approach.”

Claire Reidel uses her reach to deny the puck to an Avon player. Hall/Conard girls hockey. Dec. 9, 2024. Courtesy photo

Avon had the better of the early play, but sophomore goalie Lauren Busi was on her game early, making several big saves to keep the game scoreless. Hall/Conard had moments of good play and good scoring chances, but could not get them on goal. The few that found the net were handled by goalie Ashleigh Maurice. Charlotte Reidel and Teagan Cohane did manage to get some good chances but the puck could not find the twine.

Busi and Hall/Conard were tested with just under four minutes left in the first when Avon went on the power play. The Nighthawks kept possession in the attacking zone but Busi and company stood tall to keep the game scoreless. “I know what Busi is capable of and I was impressed with a number of her ten bell saves,” said Cohane, himself a former goalie.

Paige Sweeney had a good scoring chance with just :25 left, but Maurice shut the door, as the first period ended scoreless.

Just 14 seconds into the second, Avon scored on what seemed like a harmless shot on goal. Emily Schneider floated the puck on net from the blue line while the Nighthawks were finishing a line change. It fooled Busi and clanked in off the post for the 1-0 lead. A little under 3:30 later Kalyn Reynolds snapped off a rising wrist shot on a 2-on-2 that beat Busi high right behind a partial screen from her own defender.

Quinn Baacon’s shot is saved by the Avon goalie. Hall/Conard girls hockey. Dec. 9, 2024. Courtesy photo

Hall/Conard went on the power play a little over five minutes into the second period and its best chance came when Teagan Cohane dug the puck off the wall behind the net and found Reidel in front. Maurice was able to stop the shot and control the rebound to keep the 2-0 lead. Avon had a power play of its own with 7:20 left on the clock and they had a great scoring opportunity on another 2-on-2 but Fiona Campbell – who was solid all night – tied up the stick of the Avon player right in front of the goal.

When the third period started, it was a revived and ready Hall/Conard side that came out of the locker room. Applying pressure early on, the host team nearly scored when Mia Longman fired a rebound low to Maurice’s right. The goalie flashed out the pad and made a huge save to deny the goal.

Hall/Conard got on the board with just under five minutes left in regulation on the power play. Maurice made a save moving to her right, and the puck headed toward the left point. The Avon goalie lost her edge getting back into position and Campbell was rewarded for her hard work with the goal. She grabbed the puck, took one stride to the top of the circle, and fired it into the empty net to make it 2-1.

Avery Selstad controls the puck on its edge. Hall/Conard girls hockey. Dec. 9, 2024. Courtesy photo

“We have a small team with lots of skill sets,” said Cohane. “We try to play with pace and in the third period we got back to that.”

Hall/Conard continued to push for the equalizer and went for the extra skater by pulling Busi late in the period. Despite the pressure, Avon was able to hold on for the 2-1 win.

The Hall/Conard girls team has little time to rest as they are back on the ice at Veterans Memorial Skating Rink on Wednesday when they host Suffield.

Jared Cohane is in his first season as head coach. He’s joined by assistants Jenny Mancini and McKenna Gernander. Hall/Conard girls hockey. Dec. 9, 2024. Courtesy photo

Game notes:

• Jared Cohane, who has coached several hockey clubs in the state, is the father of player Teagan Cohane. His son Tanner previously played for the Hall boys hockey team.
• The Hall/Conard team does not have a nickname and is simply known as the Hall/Conard Hockey Club (HCHC)
• Jenny Mancini and McKenna Gernander are working as assistants with Cohane. If the name Gernander sounds familiar, her father, Ken, was in the NY Rangers organization for 11 years. He played eight season with the Hartford Wolf Pack and after retiring was the team’s head coach from 2007 to 2017. His number 12 is the only one retired by the Wolf Pack.

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.