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The Quinnipiac men’s hockey fell to Harvard in ECAC Hockey championship game on Saturday.
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DARIEN — It’s one thing to put together the best game of your season in a random FCIAC game on a Saturday afternoon on some Wednesday night. But you do it in a sold-out Darien Ice House against the No. 2 team in the state and your archrival? It can mean a whole, whole lot more.
And New Canaan played a near-perfect game Saturday right from the first shift of the game. The Rams, No. 4 in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Boys Hockey Poll, scored on the second shift and never looked back in a 4-1 win over No. 2 Darien.
“Every game so far this year, all our losses, we started well through the first, turned it off in the third and choked the game away,” New Canaan junior forward Gavin Fitzpatrick said.
“We had some film review, what our issues were in third periods. I think that’s one of the reasons we turned it around.”
New Canaan (12-3-1) tied Darien earlier this season, and its three losses were in overtime to No. 3 Fairfield Prep, by one plus an empty-netter to No. 5 Fairfield (rematch here Monday) and by two to No. 1 Notre Dame-West Haven last weekend.
Rams coach Clark Jones said he could see things coming together in practice.
“The early execution and pace we played at, the puck movement that we had through the neutral zone and being able to establish the forecheck,” Jones said, “this is as good as we’ve had all year.”
New Canaan had a 24-18 edge in shots on goal, and the advantage in shot attempts had to be much wider. Max Lowe scored a minute and a half in. Gavin Fitzpatrick and Doster Crowell took turns setting each other up in the second period.
The last time the Rams beat the Blue Wave was in overtime in the 2021 FCIAC semifinals, the (second) year the CIAC held no state tournament because of the pandemic. The last New Canaan win in regulation was the 2020 FCIAC final, in a season in which the Blue Wave had won a 10-2 regular-season game.
For a regular-season New Canaan victory over Darien, you’re going back six years and a week, during which the Rams were 0-7-2 against Darien in the regular season.
“This was such an important game,” Fitzpatrick said. “My whole high school career we haven’t been able to beat Darien. This was a really meaningful game. Two losses last year, a tie this year: This was really important.”
Fitzpatrick, Crowell and Brayden Robie, with Cam Wietfeldt and Lincoln Durfee on defense, opened the game with an aggressive forechecking shift. Lowe scored from the left circle a minute later. New Canaan didn’t relent.
“We were outworked start to finish,” Darien coach Mac Budd said, and unlike Jones, he didn’t see this one coming.
“It was a big game, which we’ve done a good job with, but it was pretty clear the better team won tonight.”
Tony DelCarmine scored an empty-netter for New Canaan (12-3-1). Jack Marisca scored for Darien (10-4-3) in the final minute to break up Mason Pickering’s shutout bid.
Player of the Game
New Canaan junior Gavin Fitzpatrick helped set the tone on the first shift, worked on the end boards to set up the second goal and scored the third.
Fitzpatrick has 26 points; linemate Crowell has 36.
“It’s not only their compete,” Jones said, “it’s the way they operate together, the pace they’re playing at. They’re unselfish. They play the right way. They set the tone for us every game.”
Fitzpatrick came out of that puck-battle on the second goal and said he knew Crowell was open in front to score his 21st goal.
“He’s a great teammate to have on your line,” Fitzpatrick said. “Give him the puck, you know it’s going in the back of the net.”
Quotable
“They played very well, and we just couldn’t seem to regroup. I guess the good thing is it’s not March. We’ve got a couple of weeks to try to figure things out.” —Darien coach Mac Budd
mfornabaio@ctpost.com; @fornabaioctp