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Sports

Ridgefield Boys Hockey Holds Off Greenwich In Physical Game

Tim Kelly and Danny McMullan score first-period goals in 2-1 victory over Cardinals

The Ridgefield boys hockey team received a major test against Greenwich in the quarterfinals of the FCIAC boys hockey playoffs Saturday night at Winter Garden Arena.

But first-period goals by Tim Kelly and Danny McMullan held up as the Tigers edged the Cardinals 2-1 to advance to Wednesday's semifinal against St. Joseph at the Terry Conners Rink in Stamford.

The teams will be playing for the second time in a week as Ridgefield defeated the Cadets 4-1 last Wednesday to grab the  No. 2 seed in the FCIAC playoffs behind New Canaan.

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"They (Greenwich) are a hard working team and very physical," Ridgefield coach Shaun Gallaher said.  "We knew what to expect.  They trap well and we expected them to play us tough."

Kelly opened the scoring on a setup from Sean Wilkinson and Aidan Scott at 3:23 while Ridgefield had a two-man advantage.  Greenwich’s Marc DeLuca was in the penalty box for hooking at 2:08 and Craig Macken was sent off 36 seconds later for  boarding.

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McMullan then scored on a simple play afterWilkinson retrieved the puck from behind the net, feeding Johnny Richards,  who got it to McMullan on the other side. McMullan scored as he was getting checked from in close.

Ridgefield dominated the first period, outshooting Greenwich 10-6, but seemed to let up its intensity in the second.

The Cardinals began forcing play in Ridgefield’s end of the ice.  On one of those plays,  Greenwich’s Callum Lawson managed to score on a fortuitous bounce, putting in a rebound at 9:24. Alex Liebers and Louis Pulitano assisted on the goal. 

Ridgefield tried to respond and at 11:03, Vinnie Rella clanged a shot off both goal posts after splitting two Greenwich defensemen  to walk in all alone on Cardinals goaltender Ricky Piper.

Ridgefield’s late surge allowed the Tigers to outshoot Greenwich 10-5 in the period.

In the final period,  the pace of the contest picked up as  both teams started hitting.

With 31 seconds remaining, Greenwich called timeout and pulled Piper. However, Ridgefield gained control of the puck and was able to clear the zone.

A pileup ensued in the Greenwich end with eight seconds to go.  Coincidental minors were given out to Eric Macken and Terry Guider,  who continued to chirp at each other in the penalty box.

After the final whistle a Greenwich player in frustration made contact with Ridgefield goaltender Nate Gliedman and was promptly dropped by a Tigers' player. 

A melee ensued, but the referees quickly got control over and separated the two teams. 

“I understand their frustration," Gliedman said. "We knocked them out of the FCIACs and states last year and just did it again to them this year in the FCIACs.

We knew it would be chippy. My defense did a great job in front of me and it was real team effort.  Now on to the next game."

 

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