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Sports

Conard Hockey Team Clinches Postseason Berth

Goals by Kycia and Haggerty and a strong defense turn back North Haven at the Vet.

North Haven boys hockey coach Mike Violano was an optimist Saturday after a 2-1 loss to at . With four games left in the regular season, there’s no alternative.

“We need two wins. We just made our job tougher, that’s all,” Violano said.

With a 6-10-0 record, North Haven’s quest for a sixth straight Division I postseason appearance includes games against top-10 powers Fairfield Prep on Monday and West Haven March 1. There are also 11-game winner East Haven (Feb. 28) and Branford (Feb. 26) to deal with.

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“We have a good chance,” Violano said. “If we play good hockey and take advantage of scoring opportunities, we should be there.”

Conard (6-6-4) just got there. The current combination of wins and ties will give Conard at least the .400 winning percentage necessary to meet the CIAC postseason qualifying threshold.

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“[The tournament] was a goal of ours going into the season and to get it done in a game like this means a lot,” Conard coach Chris Rice said. “We wanted to qualify now. We did not want to wait.”

Against Conard (6-6-4), North Haven was able to solve goalie Nick Miceli one time only – and that was off a rare rebound. Miceli made the initial stop on James Piscitelli on his knees but lost sight of the puck, which Tyler DeMartin stuffed to tie the game 1-1 at 9 minutes, 39 seconds of the second period.

The momentum lasted for 1:07. Nick Haggerty scored on a deflection for Conard. Jack Wilson (two assists) and Luke Powers assisted.

“We wanted to block the goalie, get rebounds,” Rice said. “That was one of our plans going into the game and our game-winner comes off a deflection.”

After Conard regained the lead, North Haven continued to press the attack in the second period. Miceli’s right arm redirected a whistling shot by Tyler Hines with less than six minutes. A shot from point-blank range with less than three minutes was turned away and Hines was denied again seconds later by Miceli’s stick.

“When you outshoot a team [unofficially] 27-7 in the first two periods and lose it? You make your bed and you lay in it,” Violano said. “We had plenty of good opportunities.”

With Wilson assisting, Daniel Kycia gave Conard a 1-0 lead at 7:07 of the first period. Kycia’s low slapshop beat a partially shielded goalie Mike Amarone, who needed all his resources, especially in the third period, when North Haven gave Conard two power plays in the final minutes.

Amarone robbed Kyle Weber twice on the first power play -- each time up close in front.

The high-sticking and cross-checking calls against North Haven consumed four of the final five minutes.

“Very questionable calls. It might sound like sour apples right now but I think I have the right to be,” Violano said. “When you play that hard … what are you going to do? I don’t care if we had 90 shots. You don’t put the puck in the net you don’t win.”

Conard was 4-15-1 last season. After a game Monday at Notre Dame-Fairfield, Conard returns to the Vet for matchups with top-10 Xavier (Feb. 23), Hall/Southington (Feb. 26) and Tri-Town (March 1).

Tournament play begins March 7.

“We have [four more] games in this nine-day stretch. We still have a lot to do,” Rice said.

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