North Branford Hockey Takes Loss in Division II Tourney

The North Branford boys’ ice hockey team saw its season come to a close when the Thunderbirds took a loss against Wethersfield in the first round of the Division II State Tournament last week. North Branford finished with an overall record of 9-12 for the 2022 campaign.

On March 7, No. 14 seed North Branford hit the road to take on 3rd-Seeded Wethersfield for a Division II first-round matchup at Newington Ice Arena. The T-Birds dropped a 7-4 decision to the Eagles and were eliminated from the tournament with the defeat.

Sophomore Michael Matteo gave North Branford a 1-0 lead by scoring on an assist with fellow sophomore Jake Pedersen nine minutes into the first period. Later in the period, senior Captain Ryan Michonski scored on a one-timer off an assist from sophomore Jack Maley to make it 2-0. Wethersfield came back with a power-play goal to cut the deficit to 2-1 after one.

The second period saw end-to-end action with three goals being scored within a 22-second span. Wethersfield opened the scoring with a quick power-play goal to tie the game at 2-2, after which the Eagles took a 3-2 lead by netting a goal at the 3:20 mark of the period. Matteo responded for North Branford by scoring his second goal of the night from Pedersen just 13 seconds later, knotting the score at 3-3. Wethersfield scored the last two goals of the period to take a 5-3 lead into the third.

The Eagles made it 6-3 by scoring a goal five minutes into the third period. Late in the game, with a Wethersfield player in the penalty box for interference, Head Coach Ralph Shaw pulled junior goalie Aidan Geist from the net for an extra skater. Senior Dakota Cooper followed with a power-goal from sophomore Colin Auger cut it to 6-4, but the Eagles added an empty-net goal to finish off the 7-4 Victory. Geist made 32 saves on the night for North Branford, including stopping a Wethersfield penalty shot during the wild second period.

—Chris Piccirillo