NORTHFORD — Following their 7-3 victory over the Milford Co-op on Saturday, the Lyman Hall Trojans extended their winning streak on ice to two with a 4-2 SCC/SWC Division II victory over the Branford Hornets on Monday at the Northford Ice Pavilion.
Monday’s final marked a major turnaround. On Dec. 31, at the same rink, LH lost to Branford 7-0.
“We played less intimidated than when we played them early on in the season,” said Lyman Hall head coach Dave Sagnella. “We’re young, they’re senior-heavy and I think a lot of our kids that game were very timid and we’ve come a long way since then.”
They’ve also added the services of junior Cam Kaplan, the Xavier transfer who played his first game with LH after sitting out the first half of the season per CIAC transfer rules. He got the Trojans on the board Monday.
LH built a 2-0 lead in the second period and then struck twice more in the third after Branford rallied to tie.
“I thought the first period we were flying,” said Sagnella. “After our timeout in the third, we played harder and earned it. It was good to come back from a 7-0 loss to a 4-2 win.”
Sophomore Dylan Shadle, junior Alec Brockett and senior Jimbo Cohrs also scored goals for Lyman Hall (3-7-1). Senior Colin Deane and sophomore Michael Loomis scored for the Hornets (6-7-0).
The game started off with the Trojans controlling the pace. Although no goals were scored in the first period, Lyman Hall out-shot Branford 17-7 and had more opportunities to score.
Perhaps the best opportunity of the period, however, came around the 12th minute. Branford’s Colin Deane had a clear path for an open shot but ran into a Trojan defender and got knocked down to the ice.
Heading into the second period, each team was searching for their first goal and three wound up being scored.
For Lyman Hall, it only took a minute of searching. Kaplan scored his first career goal with the Trojans unassisted to put LH up 1-0.
Kaplan was grateful to score in his season debut with the Trojans after sitting out the first 10 games.
“It felt great, I was waiting awhile to hit my first one. The first period I was running off of adrenaline, then I shook it off,” said Kaplan. “It’s going to be fun based off of that game. I can’t wait to play more with this team.”
“We’ve been looking forward to it,” Sagnella said of Kaplan’s debut. “He’s been practicing with us for the first half of the season. We’re hoping that he gives us a spark. We…
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