Sports
Fairfield Prep Hockey Defeats Rival Hamden, 3-1
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With games against rivals Hamden and Notre Dame of West Haven to start the new year, feels this week will be a good measuring stick for his banged-up team.
The Jesuits passed the first test Wednesday, overcoming a slow start to defeat the Green Dragons 3-1 at Quinnipiac University.
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David White recorded two goals and an assist and goaltender Riley Wikman made 24 saves for Fairfield Prep, which dropped two of three games at the Mount St. Charles tournament last week and lost captain Matt Brophy to an injury.
Defensemen Tom Worsfold and Kevin Brown returned to the lineup Wednesday, but the Jesuits (5-2) still played with only five healthy blueliners.
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"I think we're a more wounded team, but I think we're a closer team from a chemistry standpoint," Sather said. 'You can tell there's a camaraderie building for a new team. Games like this certainly help."
Wikman kept the Jesuits in the game in the first period when Fairfield Prep was outplayed and outshot by a 14-7 margin.
"Riley pretty much motivated us," said White, who scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season. "We fed off his energy and (it) allowed us to start rolling. Once we started rolling, we were all set."
Wikman also faced a flurry of shots early in the second period, but continued to keep the Green Dragons (3-1) off the board.
After about five minutes into the period, the Jesuits started to take over the play. They were strong in their own zone over the final 30 minutes, allowing only 11 shots.
"After the the first period, our defense tightened up," Wikman said. "In the third period, I didn't have as many shots (five) as I had in the first period and that's because our defensemen were playing good. The shots that I did have were mostly from outside. I'll take those any day."
The Jesuits took advantage of a Hamden turnover in its own end to finally break the scoreless tie with 4:24 remaining in the second period.
A.J. Unker (two assists) passed in front to a wide-open White, who tapped the puck into an unguarded net.
"Last year David was a little more of a helper and this year he's stepped into a role of a finisher," Sather said. "Hopefully, that continues."
Just 26 seconds into the third period, Connor Henry was the beneficiary of another excellent pass from Unker as he took a centering feed and beat Hamden goalie Andrew Varga with a one-timer from the slot to make it 2-0.
Jeremy Germain halved the deficit just 24 seconds later, but the Jesuits clamped down defensively and regained their two-goal margin when White converted a perfectly executed two-on-one with 8:49 left. He took a cross-ice pass from Nick Bargiello and beat Varga with a wrist shot to the stick side.
"I got a great pass from AJ (for the first goal)," White said. "I saw the goalie come out, but I didn't have to do much because of AJ's pass. That was a great pass by Nick Bargiello and once again I was on the lucky end to score the goal."
The Jesuits finished with a 28-25 edge in shots, even though they were outshot 18-7 only 2 1/2 minutes into the middle period.
"We haven't had any league games yet, so there's always a question mark how a new team is going to respond to the competition," Sather said. "A little rough start, but then we settled in pretty nicely in the second and third."
WEDNESDAY'S RESULTS
Boys hockey
Fairfield Prep 3, Hamden 1
Wrestling
Fairfield Warde 67, Norwalk 6
Fairfield Ludlowe 72, Harding 12
Fairfield Prep at Guilford
THURSDAY'S SCHEDULE
Boys hockey
Darien vs. Notre Dame-Fairfield, 6 p.m., at Milford Ice Pavilion
Gymnastics
Fairfield Warde at Greenwich, 6:30 p.m. (Greenwich YMCA)
Boys indoor track
Fairfield Prep at SCC developmental meet, 5 p.m., New Haven Athletic Center
STANDINGS
BOYS BASKETBALL
West Division
FCIAC Record
Overall Record
Danbury 3-0 5-0 Greenwich 3-1 5-1 Bridgeport Central 3-1 5-1 Trumbull 3-1 4-2 Westhill 2-1 3-2 Staples 1-2 2-3Central Division
FCIAC Record
Overall Record
Ridgefield 4-0 6-0 Norwalk 2-1 4-1 Stamford 1-3 2-4 Fairfield Ludlowe 1-3 1-5 McMahon 0-3 0-5 McMahon 0-4 0-5East Division
FCIAC Record
Overall Record
St. Joseph 4-0 6-0 Bassick 3-1 5-1 Trinity Catholic 3-1 4-2 Fairfield-Warde 2-2 4-2 Wilton 0-3 2-3 Darien 0-4 1-5 New Canaan 0-41-5
GIRLS BASKETBALL
West Division
FCIAC Record
Overall Record
Trumbull 6-0 8-0 Danbury 5-0 7-0 Staples 4-1 5-2 Westhill 2-3 3-3 Greenwich 1-5 1-7 Bridgeport Central 0-61-7
Central Division
Stamford 6-0 6-2 Fairfield Ludlowe 3-34-4
East Division
St. Joseph 5-1 7-1 Wilton 4-1 4-2 Trinity Catholic 4-2 5-3 New Canaan 3-3 5-3 Darien 2-3 3-4 Fairfield Warde 2-4 4-4 Bassick 0-60-8
BOYS HOCKEY
East Division FCIAC Record FCIAC Points Overall Record St. Joseph 0-0 0 4-1-0 Ridgefield 0-0 0 3-1-0 New Canaan 0-0 0 2-3-0 Stamford 0-0 0 1-3-1 Darien 0-0 0 1-3-0 Trinity Catholic 0-0 0 1-4-0 Wilton 0-0 0 0-4-0 West Division FCIAC Record FCIAC Points Overall Record Staples 0-0 0 3-0-0 Trumbull 0-0 0 5-1-0 Fairfield Coop 0-0 0 2-2-0 Norwalk 0-0 0 1-2-0 Greenwich 0-0 0 1-4-0 Westhill 0-0 0 0-3-1Girls Hockey
Teams FCIAC Record FCIAC Pts Overall Record New Canaan 3-0 6 7-0 Darien 2-0 4 4-0 Greenwich 2-1 4 5-2 Ridgefield 2-1 4 4-1 Staples/Trumbull
0-0 0 1-4 Fairfield 0-2 0 2-4 Wilton 0-2 0 2-4 Stamford 0-3 0 0-3
