The Staples-Weston-Shelton Wreckers are back in the championship game once again. After surviving a first period where they were outshot 17-4, the Wreckers took the play to the Windsor-East Granby-Avon hockey team en route to a 6-1 win at Yale’s Ingalls Rink. The win sends them to the Division III championship game Saturday against Watertown-Pomperaug, who defeated Northwest Catholic 5-0 in the second game of the evening.
Wrecker’s coach Ralph Unker knew he had some work to do to get his team on track after the first period. “The game plan that I drew up, we didn’t follow it at all,” said Unker. “The first period was exactly opposite of the game plan. The second period we kind of got it together a little bit,” he said. “The third period we changed it, and tweaked it based upon what they were bringing to us.”
Despite carrying the play, and amassing 17 shots, the Wave came away empty handed in the first. The Wreckers Kyle Wehmhoff found the back of the net for his first of five goals on the night with an unassisted tally at 3:35 into the first to give Staples-Weston-Shelton a lead that they would never relinquish.
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Wave coach Jesse Peters knew he had an opportunity to get an early lead with his team’s lopsided advantage in shots on goal. “We threw shot upon shot on the goal, and the shots just didn’t go in. I feel like the first half of the game we dominated. Psychologically, it starts to wear on you,” said Peters.
“The other team was in our face, they had some big guys, they were playing a lot of good one-on-one hockey. In the first period they looked like they wanted it a little more than we did,” said Unker.
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Aaron Liu brought the puck behind the net early in the second period, and sent a nifty pass to find linemate Kyle Wehmhoff in the slot where he one-timed the shot past Wave goalie Edward Burke less than a minute into the second period.
That duo would hook up again at the 8:13 mark on a similar goal. Again, the puck came from Liu behind the net, finding Wehmhoff who buried the opportunity. Tal Laifer also had an assist on the goal. This extended the lead to three goals, despite only having nine shots on net.
The Wreckers gave the Wave a huge opportunity to get back in the game late in the second period. With Owen Engledrum out for roughing, and Derek DeBenedetto out for holding, the Wave had a two man advantage for 1:07. Although they failed to score during the powerplay, they carried momentum and finally put one past Staples-Weston-Shelton goalie Luke Andriuk on their 27th shot of the game, with just :45 seconds left in the period.
Jeffrey Demers flipped the puck over Andriuk after several attempts by teammates to get it past him. Justin Fischler got the assist on the goal. That brought them within striking distance, and momentum going into the dressing room with a tally in the final minute of the period.
Momentum was lost when the Wave sent Adam Lebowitz to the box :51 into the third on a tripping call. “I thought we were going to have momentum going into the third. The wheels fell off when we took the penalty,” said Peters.
Kyle Wehmhoff scored goals only moments apart to break the backs of the Wave. Tai Laifer had an assist on both goals, and Aaron Liu got an assist on the fifth goal. The fifth goal resulted from a turnover on the WAVE breakout. Aaron Liu put a shot on net as Wehmhoff streaked through the crease and directed the puck home.
Tal Laifer rounded out the scoring for Staples-Weston-Shelton with his goal assisted by Aaron Liu. Liu was crushed by a check behind the net, but was able to get the puck out to Laifer, who roofed it over Burke’s blocker to make it a 6-1 lead for Staples-Weston-Shelton.
Wreckers’ goalie Luke Andriuk stopped all but one shot on the night. Both coaches saw his play as a key to the game. “Luke, as a sophomore, took over the starting job. He has just gotten better and better,” said Unker. “He is the type of guy you can count on. We needed him today, for sure, as we were getting pounded by that team. They really took it to us, especially in the first period.”
Wave coach Peters added, “Their goalie played tremendously. I just wish we drove to the net more effectively. We were trying to find loose pucks, but I felt we were always a second too late. Our goal came on a third chance opportunity.”
Peters acknowledged that despite having only two wins two years ago, the Wave goal was to skate away as champions. He was proud of the way his team played, but he had to tip his hat to the play of the Wreckers. “When you play a team, and you game plan against them, and they still are able to do what they do. It just says a lot about their team.”
