IceCats Can’t Slow Down Guilford In State Finals

The No. 2 seeded Brookfield-Bethel-Danbury IceCats skated their way to the Division III state championship game by winning low-scoring games using solid defense and strong net minding.  The No. 1 seeded Guilford Indians cruised through the tournament behind a potent offensive attack. Something had to give and unfortunately it was the IceCats.

BBD was unable to slow down the Indians quick-strike attack, falling behind early and eventually succumbing to the speed and ability of the opposition, 7-3.  Freshman goalie Luiz Dibble was under constant pressure and was unable to duplicate the strong performances that led BBD to the SWC Championship and Div.  III State Final.

Guilford was able to get on the board just 1:06 into the game when Junior David DeCaprio slipped one by Dibble.

"That kind of killed us," BBD head coach Rusty Granacker said.  "We were worried about their speed and ability to transition from offense to defense quickly."

BBD had a chance to tie it midway through the 1st period when they went on the power play but were unable to generate any good chances.

"In the first period we had ten shots, five of them missed the net," Granacker lamented.

Twenty seconds after killing off the penalty Guilford got another goal from Junior Christian Cattaruzza for a deflating 2-0 lead heading into the 1st intermission.  Shortly after the 2nd period began, Guilford struck again.  Junior Troy Raccuia netted the first of his 2 goals in the period at the 2:49 mark.

"We are not a high-scoring team, we need to play low-scoring games and win with defense," Granacker stated.  "We weren't able to contain them."

The IceCats put the pressure back on Guilford however when senior Jared Smenyak got free for a break-away goal to cut the lead to 3-1 with 9:03 left in the period.  The momentum switch was short-lived as the Indians got the other goal from Raccuia for a 4-1 lead.

"Luiz has been great for us. We win as a team and lose as team," Granacker said.  "We all made mistakes out there today."

Needing to come up with a big effort in the 3rd period for the comeback win, the IceCats watched helplessly as the Indians got an unassisted goal from senior Justin Gilloran off the opening face-off at the .08 mark.  After an immediate timeout called by BBD, Guilford put the game out of reach when senior Timothy Brooks mis-directed a shot into net at the .40 mark.

"I tried to call a timeout to stem the tide, but they were able to score again two shifts later so it really didn't work," Granacker explained.

BBD did continue to fight, literally, drawing a penalty on Guilford goaltender Sean Finucane when some punches were thrown.  IceCat senior Art Hauser then broke free for a breakaway goal with just under four minutes remaining.  Again, the Indians had the answer as Raccuia connected for the hat trick.  Moments after the officials scooped the hats off the ice, BBD got the games final goal on a nice rebound put back from senior Grant Smith.

"Competing and playing good defense was important for this team.  We did real well in the Maine Tournament early in the year, winning three games.  That set the tone for the season and let us know we could be good.  We didn't have our eyes set on playing in the state finals but we enjoyed being here," Granacker concluded.

Download the movie