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Sports

Rams Shoot to the State Championship Game

New Canaan will now aim for their second title win of the year against Darien.

 

New Canaan moves into the State Championship game with a win over the Hall-Conard co-op team on Friday night at Yale's Ingalls Rink. As they had when they played the Huskies from West Hartford in an out-of-conference game early in the season, the Rams won by three goals (this time it was a 3-0 shutout), but it didn't come easy. New Canaan showed great perseverance as they dominated play from wire to wire. 

It appeared that New Canaan was playing most of the game on power plays as they peppered Huskies goalie Rosie Gluck with 15 first-period shots. But the dimunitive Gluck was outstanding in turning away everything the Rams threw at her. Most of the attempts were from high scoring areas, but Gluck always seemed to be squared to the puck, in control of rebounds and back on her feet quickly ready to defend again. The first period ended with New Canaan having a 15-1 edge in shots-on-goal (and the one shot from the Huskie was a soft one). Despite Hall-Conard being back on its heels, the Rams had nothing to show for it as the period ended scoreless.

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But to the Rams credit they didn't get frustrated or get away from their level of play. They continued to fire away. Mid-way through the second period, with the team's 26th shot, Corbett Ripley, with a helper from Madzie Carroll, got the puck past Gluck for a 1-0 lead. 

"I was on the weak side from the puck and tapped my stick on the ice when Madzie saw me and got the puck to me," Ripley said. "I timed it, shot it and it went in."

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At the second intermission the Rams had out-shot the Huskies 29-2, but the score was still just 1-0.

"I know all about Gluck, she's one of the best goalies in the state and we have to make her move more," Rams Coach Rich Bulan said just before the start of the third period. 

As if on cue, Bea Eppler took the first shot 12 seconds into the final period, found a  bit of space and scored. 

"We talked about rebounds coming out high, after the second period, so that was on my mind when the puck did come out high. I shot off the rebound and got it in," said Eppler. 

The dynamic duo of Jana Persky and Olivia Hompe put the icing on the cake with a final goal with less than two-minutes remaining. Persky scored, Hompe assisted and the Rams had a 3-0 win and head to a final game tonight against Darien for the State Championship Title at Yale's Ingalls Rink.

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Watch the final minute: http://patch.com/Sdpd

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KEY STATS

Scoring:

2nd Period

  • New Canaan—Ripley from Carroll at 8:42

3rd Period

  • New Canaan—Eppler from Hompe at :12; Persky from Hompe at 13:02

Goalie Saves: 

  • New Canaan—Spitzfaden 4/4
  • Hall-Conard— Gluck 43/46
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