2013 Division II Ice Hockey Championship
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2013 Division II Ice Hockey Championship

Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe 4, East Catholic 3 (OT)

By Mary Albi, Special to CIACSports.com
Photos by Kevin Pataky, MaxPreps.com


NEW HAVEN -- Call it a Divine Intervention.

On the eve of the biggest game of his hockey career, Fairfield's Kevin Robinson had a premenision he might have a good game in the CIAC DII state hockey championship against East Catholic. Little did he know, his dream would soon become a reality.

With the game tied at three in overtime, Robinson scored on a penalty shot with five minutes and 31 seconds left to give the Mustangs the 4-3 victory and the programs first state title Wednesday night at Ingalls Rink.

"To be honest with you, I had a dream about it last night where I scored three (goals)," Robinson said, "It's an unreal feeling."

Robinson was the offensive hero of the night as he scored all four of Fairfield's goals.

"I'm happy, I want to cry tears of joy," Robinson said.

As amazing as the finish was, it was just the capper to an exciting night. Wirth seconds remaining in the third period, tied at 3, Fairfield's Thomas Kryspin plucked in a deflection into the net as time expired for what the Mustangs thought was the game-winner. Gloves went flying, and a mass celebration ensued. But the referrers reviewed the play and waved off the goal, saying it did not beat the clock.

"We walked off the ice with new life," East Catholic head coach Drew Clarkin said. "It's whoever scores that first goal ... gets the right bounce at the right time, it's equal opportunity at that point. It could be us, it could be them. Unfortunately it didn't work out in our favor."

The No. 13 seeded Mustangs never doubted themselves as this entire postseason run as been about proving themselves. Wednesday's showdown with No. 2 East Catholic was no different.

"The best way to sum it up is we had goals and we hit all of them," Fairfield head coach Mark Pettorini said.

Both squads were highlighted by a strong defensive effort all night from the line and goalies.

"That line has been awesome all week long in practice," Pettorini said.

East Catholic's Thomas Usseglio finished the game with 26 saves, including a point-blank stop as a determined Charlie Meader came at him in the third period.

He's been absolutely stellar for us all season," Clarkin said of Usseglio. "I thought he made some tremendous saves. He's really been a super star for us all year long."

Fairfield's Kyle Greenhurst was just as big, coming up with 17 saves and keeping the Mustangs in the game as the Eagles held a 3-2 lead heading into the third.

After Robinson scored two early goals off assists from teammate Conor Scharlop, to jump out to an early 2-0 lead at the 11:01 mark, East Catholic's Alex Manner cut the lead in half. East Catholic (18-6-0) had the momentum in the second, getting two goals - from Brian O'Connell and Griffin Casey, but Fairfield rallied in the third, setting up the epic finish.

"First period we came out we had a great first period, second period they kind of took it too us a little. Pretty much the motivation was this was it," Pettorini said. "It was real emotional."

Fairfield finished the season at 14-10-0.




Fairfield (14-10-0) vs. East Catholic (18-6-0)
Date: Mar 20, 2013 Location: New Haven, CT Arena: Ingalls Rink
Attendance: Start time:7:00 pm End time:9:06 pm Total time:2:01

Goals by Period  1st  2nd  3rd  OT  Total 
Fairfield  
East Catholic  

Scoring Summary
Prd  Time  Team  Type  Scored by  Assists  Visitor on ice  Home on ice 
1.  1st  01:45  FFLD   EVEN  Robinson, Kevin  Scharlop, Conor  11,2,5,22,7  8,4,9,17,13 
2.  1st  11:01  FFLD   EVEN  Robinson, Kevin  Scharlop, Conor  11,2,22,7,24  8,4,2,13,17 
3.  1st  14:11  ECAT   PP  Manner, Alex  Munson, Lee  8,5,13,2  21,19,2,22,13 
                  O'Connell, Brian       
4.  2nd  05:52  ECAT   EVEN  O'Connell, Brian  Donohue, Liam  22,7,11,24,2  2,4,8,17,13 
                  Lemieux, Dan       
5.  2nd  08:52  ECAT   EVEN  Casey, Griffin  McCarthy, Jake  22,11,24,7,2  7,9,13,17,20 
                  Urrichio, Matt       
6.  3rd  05:31  FFLD   EVEN  Robinson, Kevin  11,22,5,9,7  9,5,20,22,17 
7.  OT  09:42  FFLD   EVEN  Robinson, Kevin  PENALTY SHOT     

Team Summaries


   Shots by Prd    
Fairfield    G   A   1   2   3  OT  Tot  +/-  Pen 
2   Scharlop, Conor   0-0 
   4   Stern, Matthew   0-0 
   5   Silvestri, Daniel   +2  0-0 
   7   O'Rourke, Jack   +1  0-0 
8   Aquila, Michael   0-0 
   9   Weinstein, Zach   +1  0-0 
   11  Robinson, Kevin   +1  0-0 
   12  Petro, Wade   0-0 
13  Meder, Charlie   0-0 
   14  Armas, Austin   0-0 
   16  Larouche, Mathiew   0-0 
   17  Logan, Christopher   0-0 
   19  Barlow, Paul   0-0 
   21  Roberts, Matthew   0-0 
   22  Scheetz, Kyle   +1  0-0 
24  Grace, Timothy   -1  0-0 
   25  O'Reilly, PJ   0-0 
26  Kyrspin, Thomas   1-2 
     Totals.........  10  11  35  +5  1-2 

   Saves by Prd 
Fairfield   Dec  Minutes   GA   EN  1st  2nd  3rd  OT  Total 
31  Greenhunt, Kyle   54:42  21 


   Shots by Prd    
East Catholic    G   A   1   2   3  OT  Tot  +/-  Pen 
   2   O'Connell, Brian   0-0 
   3   Genovesi, Vinny   0-0 
   4   Donohue, Liam   -1  1-2 
   5   Lauzon, Cam   -1  0-0 
   6   Lauzon, Craig   0-0 
7   Casey, Griffin   +1  0-0 
   8   Lemieux, Dan   -1  0-0 
9   McCarthy, Jake   -1  0-0 
   10  Karabetsos, Ryan   0-0 
   12  Lookabaugh, Kurt   0-0 
13  Urrichio, Matt   0-0 
   14  Peters, John   0-0 
   16  DiLoreto, Mike   0-0 
17  Murray, Steven   -1  0-0 
   18  Heaney, Billy   0-0 
   19  Munson, Lee   0-0 
20  Bishop, Patrick   0-0 
   21  Manner, Alex   0-0 
   22  Cedrone, Evan   -1  0-0 
   23  Roderick, Joslin   0-0 
     Totals.........  24  -5  1-2 

   Saves by Prd 
East Catholic   Dec  Minutes   GA   EN  1st  2nd  3rd  OT  Total 
31  Usseglio, Thomas   OTL  54:42  10  31 


Shots by Period  1st  2nd  3rd  OT  Total 
Fairfield   10  11  35 
East Catholic   24 

Power Play G-Att (Shots) 
Prd  FFLD   ECAT  
Total  0-0   1-1  

Penalties/Minutes by Prd 
Prd  FFLD   ECAT  
1st  1/2  0/0 
2nd  0/0  0/0 
3rd  0/0  0/0 
OT  0/0  1/2 
Total  1/2  1/2 


Three stars:
1. Robinson, Kevin
2. Scharlop, Conor
3. Usseglio, Thomas

Officials:
Referee:Bill Tomassi
Referee:John McGlynn
Linesman:AJ Collier
Pen timekeeper:Tim Cooney
Game timekeeper:Mark Ryba
Scorer:Bill Garfield
CIAC Division II Finals

Win-Greenhunt, Kyle. Loss-Usseglio, Thomas.

Penalty shots - [OT 09:42] FFLD Robinson, Kevin GOOD.


Penalty Summary
Prd  Player  Team  Min  Offense  Time    
1st  Kyrspin, Thomas   FFLD   SLASHING  13:19  PP 
OT  Donohue, Liam   ECAT   FALLING ON PUCK  09:42    

Fairfield - Faceoffs 
##  Player   W   L 
8   Aquila, Michael   11  11 
11  Robinson, Kevin  
7   O'Rourke, Jack  
19  Barlow, Paul  
5   Silvestri, Daniel  
2   Scharlop, Conor  
  Totals.........  23  31 

East Catholic - Faceoffs 
##  Player   W   L 
9   McCarthy, Jake   13 
21  Manner, Alex  
2   O'Connell, Brian  
19  Munson, Lee  
7   Casey, Griffin  
8   Lemieux, Dan  
  Totals.........  31  23 


Fairfield - Power Play Summary 
Prd  Start  End  Elapse  Shots  (Opp)    
SUMMARY: 0 opps, 0 shots, 0 goals, time 00:00

East Catholic - Power Play Summary 
Prd  Start  End  Elapse  Shots  (Opp)    
1st  13:19  14:11  00:52   PPG 
SUMMARY: 1 opp, 1 shot, 1 goal, time 00:52