Rams Clinch Top Seed in FCIAC Tournament

The Rams had already clinched a playoff berth in the FCIAC Tournament before they played Westhill on Saturday night. What was still up for grabs was the top seed and the Rams took care of that with one of their best performances of the season and a 7-0 win. The game was over in the first five minutes after New Canaan scored four goals, including two on their first three shots.

As they've done throughout the season the Rams were out of the chute quickly. Jimmy Joe Granito opened the gates with a wrister that beat goalie Wade McManus just 51 seconds after the first drop of the puck. 

"Bo (McGinniss) made a nice pass to me and I just let it go. It hit the crossbar and dropped over the goal line," Granito said.  

The Rams' second goal came :29 seconds later whenDavid Crandall, on a perfect feed from Tim Robustelli scored for a 2-0 lead. 

Sam Stanton, who had another big game (one goal, three assists), made it 3-0, three minutes into the period with assists from Andrew Leslie and Henry Corcoran and when Leslie scored the Rams had a 4-0 lead. Leslie's goal was a thing of beauty. He held the puck as he skated in on the right wing beating a couple of defenders with nice stick work. He skated in deep near the end boards, made a few more moves as he came back out and scored. 

"We practiced hard this week. Tonight reflected the hard work," he said.

The Rams weren't finished as Ryan Begoon, from the top of the circle gave New Canaan a 5-0 lead after one period.

In the second period, Robustelli scored the only goal. It was another early goal, this one coming 50 seconds in on a rebound. Coach Bo Hickey took starting goalie Tim Nowacki out midway through the period and replaced him with Chris Koennecke. Neither freshman goalie allowed a score as New Canaan was on its way to its eighth shutout of the season.

"It was a bit scary how good we were tonight," Hickey said afterwards. 

The Rams have one more regular season (non-conference) game remaining. They play Xavier (4-1 winners over Trinity Catholic on Saturday) on Monday night at Darien Ice Rink at 6 p.m. 

Then it's on to the FCIACs which get underway next Friday or Saturday night. Date, time and opponent TBD.

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KEY STATS

Scoring:

1st Period

• New Canaan—J.J. Granito from Bo McGinniss at :51; David Crandall from Tim Robustelli at 1:20; Sam Stanton from Andrew Leslie and Henry Corcoran at 3:03; Andrew Leslie from Sam Stanton at 4:53; Ryan Begoon from Sam Stanton at 7:57

2nd Period

• New Canaan—Tim Robustelli at :50

3rd Period

• New Canaan— Henry Corcoran from Sam Stanton at 7:00

Goalie Saves: 

New Canaan—Tim Nowacki  10/10; Chris Koennecke 8/8

Westhill—Wade Mcmanus  32/39