Darien Boys Hockey Advances To FCIAC Finals

For the Darien boys hockey team, one loss to New Canaan was enough.

Brendan Hathaway scored a hat trick Wednesday at the Terry Conners Rink as the Blue Wave defeated the Rams 5-2 in the rubber match between the teams to advance to the finals of the FCIAC's tier one playoffs.

"(Captain) Nick Bruno is a great leader," Hathaway said. "He made sure that we all knew that we had to win this game. We couldn't lose to our rivals again. We came out on top. It felt good."

Darien (16-5) will face Ridgefield, a 6-0 winner over St. Joseph in the second semifinal, in the finals on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Terry Conners.

In December, the Blue Wave defeated New Canaan 6-1, marking the first time that Darien's seniors had ever beaten the Rams.

Given that result, Bruno acknowledged that the Blue Wave may have taken the Rams lightly the next time the teams met when New Canaan posted a 4-0 victory to end Darien's 11-game winning streak. The Blue Wave were determined to not let it happen again.

"I think that (6-1 win) got to us," Bruno said. "We got a little too cocky and they came back and smoked us. They're a good hockey team. They beat us 4-0 the last time and we knew they would come to play. The third time around, we had to take it to them, and we knew that."

Still, New Canaan (13-8-1) opened the scoring on a goal by Dylan Hart just 98 seconds into the contest. But the Blue Wave responded with three goals in the final 5:03 of the period, including a pair of Hathaway, to grab a 3-1 lead after one.

"They just played better than we did, very simple," said New Canaan coach Bo Hickey, whose team's two-year reign as FCIAC champions ended. "We scored the first goal and we think maybe it's over with. But let me tell you something, Darien comes out and plays for 45 minutes."

Bruno banged in a rebound to tie it at 9:57 before Hathaway scored off a scramble in front to put Darien ahead at 11:41. Then with 55 seconds left in the period, he stuffed in a centering pass from Alec Foresta to make it 3-1

"In the game of hockey, you go down 1-0, 2-0, you still got to find a way to battle," Darien coach Chris Gerwig said. "We said that if we ever went down, let's not getting emotional. We came right back at them. Not only did we score one, we scored two, we scored three, and we built a little cushion."

Harry Stanton pulled New Canaan within 3-2 with 7:44 left in the second period, but Hathaway scored off a turnover in front to complete his hat trick just 72 seconds into the third period and restore the two-goal margin.

It was a back-breaking goal for New Canaan because the Rams appeared to have some momentum at the end of the second  period.

"Maybe a few lucky bounces, but my linemates Trent Bergin and Alec Foresta were setting me up with some goals," Hathaway said. "We had some good chemistry tonight."

"Brendan Hathaway has a very good knack around the net," Gerwig added. "His hands are very quick and he shoots the puck harder than anyone I've seen off his back foot. He just gets the puck to the net and causes problems for goaltenders."

With the two-goal advantage, the Blue Wave was content to protect the lead and Darien goaltender Max Rothston kept the Rams off the board by making 10 of his 24 saves in the third period. Chris Koennecke finished with 15 saves for New Canaan.

"Tonight, Darien was a much better team than we were," Hickey said. "We played in spurts. We played well in the second period. We played pretty good in the third period. But every once in a while, you got to give the other guy credit. Darien came out and beat us. We didn't lose, they beat us."

Jack Knowlton's empty-netter with 1:31 remaining sealed the victory. Foresta finished with three assists while Bergin added a pair of helpers.

In the earlier meeting against Ridgefield, the Blue Wave snapped the Tigers' 14-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory.