North Haven Goes Into Extra Time To Win Div. II Hockey Championship

HAMDEN, CT — North Haven and Woodstock Academy took different roads - literally - to the CIAC Division II ice hockey finals Tuesday at the M&T Bank Arena on the campus of Quinnipiac University. Woodstock, in the northeast corner of Connecticut, took nearly an hour and a half to travel 78 miles to the championship game, while North Haven High School is located just five miles from the university.

Other than distance, there was little difference between the two teams, the top two seeds in the division. Woodstock had piled up 125 goals during the regular season and added 19 more in three tournament victories, while North Haven had accumulated 102 goals during regular season and tournament play.

With all that offensive firepower, it came as a bit of a surprise that the two standout players in the championship tilt were goaltenders Bryce Petersen of the Nighthawks and Dante Sousa of the Centaurs. Each held their opponent to a single tally during 45 minutes of regulation play, creating the first state final to go into overtime since Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe topped North Branford 4-3 in 2016.

Just over five and a half minutes into the extra session, Alex Petersen netted the game-winner for North Haven, giving the Nighthawks their third state title, but first since 2004.

Sousa was the first to demonstrate it would be a battle of the goalkeepers, stopping a shorthanded breakaway by Nolan Cole in the waning seconds of the opening period. Midway through the second period, Sousa came up big again with a sprawling save to deny a scoring bid by Ben Gilbert.

Don Sousa broke the ice with 3:31 left in the second period, scoring just after the expiration of a Centaurs power play, after Petersen had made four tremendous saves with his team shorthanded.

Thomas Guidone tied it for the Nighthawks with 5:30 remaining in regulation time, converting a pass into the slot by William Sullivan. The teams ended regulation time in a 1-1 deadlock, setting the stage for Petersen's overtime heroics.