Ice Hockey - News

The Southern Connecticut Conference’s Board of Governors today (April 26) voted unanimously to accept North Branford High School as an associate member in the sport of boys ice hockey starting in the 2012-13 season.  The Thunderbirds will compete in SCC’s Division II/III and be immediately eligible for the postseason – the top two Division II/III teams in the final SCC regular-season standings will compete in a championship game on February 27, 2013 at Quinnipiac University’s High Point Solutions Arena.

The Southern Connecticut Conference’s Athletic Directors voted on April 5 to change the league’s postseason format for the sport of boys ice hockey.  Next season, the league will host a Division I and II boys ice hockey championship game doubleheader for the top two teams in the respective regular-season standings.  The doubleheader will be held on Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at the High Point Solutions Arena on the campus of Quinnipiac University.  High Point Solutions Arena was also the site of the inaugural SCC Girls Ice Hockey championship game in 2012.

The athletic directors, in consultation with the league’s boy ice hockey coaches, agreed to review the status of the new postseason format following the conclusion of next season.

For the last six years, the league has hosted a four-team playoff for Division II.   Branford captured the 2012 SCC Division II playoff title after defeating Daniel Hand, 5-4, in overtime.  Postseason play in Division I returns after a 13-year hiatus.  The last time the SCC held a Division I postseason contest was 1999 when Notre Dame won the title.

Congratulations to Division I state champion Notre Dame (20-3-1), which finished as the top-ranked team in the New Haven Register and Hartford Courant season-ending polls.   The Green Knights defeated Glastonbury, 5-0, in the Division I championship game on March 17 at Yale's Ingalls Rink.    It was the sixth consecutive year a SCC team has won the Division I state championship.

Division I semifinalists Fairfield Prep and West Haven along with Hamden and Xavier also made the top ten.   

Congratulations also to Branford, the 2012 SCC Division II playoff champion, who reached the Division II state championship game before losing to Trumbull, 5-3.

Click here for the SCC Ice Hockey 2012 Post-season Notebook (pdf)

Click here for the final SCC 2012 Ice Hockey standings (pdf)

Branford Wins 2012 SCC Division II Ice Hockey Title  (Photo by John H. Vanacore, Shore Publishing)

The entire SCC tournament was webcast on www.sportingnewsct.com

Semifinals – Friday, March 1 – @Bennett Rink - West Haven

#3 Branford 3, #2 Milford co-op 1

#1 Daniel Hand 3, #4 Guilford 2

Click for semifinal game stories by New Haven Register reporter Dan Nowak (3/3) -- Branford/Milford  and Hand/Guilford

Championship Game – Saturday, March 3 @Bennett Rink - West Haven

Branford 5, Daniel Hand 4 (ot)

Hand (13-7-2)  0-1-3-0=4

Branford (13-9) 1-2-1-1=5

Scoring Summary:

1st: B - Tony Pascale (Rob Klouda, Tyler Criscuolo), 13:46

2nd: B - Criscuolo (Pascale, Klouda), 1:44;  B - Criscuolo (Pascale), 2:51; DH - Ben Solin (Mitchell Brown) 9:10

3rd: B - Rob Celentano (Austin Hackett), 0:12; DH - Brown (Ryan Dematteo, Solin), 3:04; DH - Brown (Joe Deane, Harrison Stewart), 9:41; DH - Daniel Healey (Solin, Nico Capone)

OT: B - Tyler Hackett (Rob Petrillo), 5:27 

Tyler Hackett scored the game-winning goal 5:33 into the first overtime.  It is the Hornets' first-ever SCC title (it was appearing in its fourth SCC championship game)... It was the second overtime game in the league championship game (1998; East Haven beat Cheshire, 6-5)... Branford forward Tyler Criscuolo was named the Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

Click to read the championship game story in the New Haven Register

Click to read New Haven Register's preview of the SCC playoffs (2/29)

(Photo by John H. Vanacore, Shore Publishing)

Fairfield Prep, the 2011 Division I state champions, finished as the top-ranked team in the season-ending New Haven Register and Hartford Courant ice hockey polls.    The Jesuits (21-3) were one of eight SCC teams, including Division II state champion Cheshire (16-6-2), who were ranked or received votes in either poll.   Hamden, who lost to Fairfield Prep in the Division I quarterfinals, was ranked second in the Courant poll and fifth in the Register.     Xavier and Notre Dame were each ranked in the top ten in both polls, while Guilford, West Haven and Daniel Hand also received votes.

Click here for a story about the SCC's success on the ice by Dan Nowak of the New Haven Register (3/23)