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Sports

New Canaan Boys Hockey Drubs Trumbull

Reed Harper scores hat trick in 7-0 win over Eagles as Rams improve to 14-0

Junior Reed Harper scored a hat trick Saturday night as the New Canaan boys hockey team routed Trumbull 7-0 at the Shelton Ice Rinks.

The Rams played up to their billing as the state's top-ranked squad, scoring early and often to demoralize the Eagles, who were outclassed. New Canaan improved to 7-0 in the FCIAC and 14-0 overall. 

“We came out and did what we had to do,” New Canaan head coach Bo Hickey said. “We used five lines out there tonight, and I’d put my threes against most teams twos, and a lot of teams ones.”

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“We’re just going with the one-game-at-a-time approach,” added Harper, who also registered a pair of assists. “And we came out hard tonight and made sure that we played all three periods.”

Although Trumbull shots were scarce, great goaltending also was  a key to the Rams' success. New Canaan sophomore goaltender Tim Nowacki recorded 12 saves.

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“It’s a good confidence booster, going into the tough week in front of us,” Nowacki said. “We’re playing Darien on Wednesday, Hamden on Friday, and St. Joe's on Saturday.  So we have three big games that will set the tone for the rest of our season.”

As always the Darien-New Canaan game - set for Wednesday - has the players preparing for a battle.

“Darien doesn’t have the greatest record this year but a rival game is a rival game,” said New Canaan senior captain Brian Tohir, who had an assist on Saturday. “We know it’s going to be a real barn burner, so we’re going to train hard this week in order to get ready.”

As for the dejected Trumbull club, the loss drops the Eagles to 3-4-1 in the FCIAC and 8-6-1 overall.

Trumbull head coach Greg Maxey disappointment spanned the past two days. He believes his team’s lack of effort in a winnable game versus Darien on Friday night carried over to the loss versus New Canaan.

“We stopped working and gave it away (Friday),” Maxey said. “So we made some adjustments and made sure everyone played today.  Because if you’re not going to win those games that are in the palm of your hand, I had no reason to believe we were going to win this game.”

New Canaan’s superior talent level outshined the Eagles all over the ice, as the Rams controlled the puck at will and constantly attacked the Trumbull zone. 

“They came in the best team in the state, but we were looking to put out a much better effort than that,” Trumbull senior Andrew Pierson said. “We just have try to look forward to the next couple of games because we have a big matchup versus Ridgefield coming up.”

While the Eagles are looking to snap a  two-game skid, the Rams hope to continue to enjoy their time on top of the Connecticut rankings. 

“It’s always nice to be No. 1,” Tohir said. “But nothing really matters until the state tournament comes around.”

 

 

 

 

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