DARIEN — It started with the hype of No. 1 vs. No. 2, and the intense rivalry between New Canaan and Darien boys ice hockey teams.
It quickly became something different.
Ten minutes into the first period, A Darien player hit the boards awkwardly and fell unconscious to the ice. It was a scary scene which drained the energy from the rink with players from both teams watching quietly as the player was tended to by EMTs.
When play resumed a half-hour later, No. 1 New Canaan and No. 2 Darien traded single goals and finished in 1-1 tie Monday night at the Darien Ice House.
The result settled little, outside of the fact that the two teams, who have topped the GametimeCT Top 10 Poll for the past three weeks, are “really evenly-matched,” according to New Canaan coach Clark Jones.
More For You
“It was a pretty good game, chances here and there for both teams but that was a tough one to bounce back from,” Jones said. “Those are weird games trying to get the kids to refocus. You just hope (he's) ok.”
Darien coach Mac Budd said the good news was it appeared the player, who was taken away in an ambulance, had “avoided a serious injury.”
“As a coach, you’re concerned for your player and as a player you’re concerned for your teammate,” Budd said. “It’s difficult to see that happen to someone, whether it’s your teammates or a person on the other team.”
The tie was somewhat anticlimactic, although not that uncommon for the rivals.
Since 2019, they’ve played 11 regular-season games, with six going to OT and three of those games ending in ties. Darien holds a 5-3-2 advantage against New Canaan during the regular season, but the Rams are 4-0 in the postseason during that span..
In their first meeting this season, New Canaan rallied with three goals in the final 4:36 to win 4-2 on Jan. 11.
As in that game, the Blue Wave grabbed the initial lead, when Alexander Rentz scored with an assist from Gavin Samame with 4:01 remaining in the first period.
New Canaan answered in the second when Drew Harmon netted the equalizer with 3:03 on the clock. Caden Leslie assisted on that goal. Harmon was filling in for Brayden Robie, who missed the game with an illness.
As the game progressed, New Canaan appeared to pick up steam, but Darien’s defense and goalie Scahfer Repsher (27 saves) held on.
“Our main goal for our defense is to play physical and give 110%,” Darien defenseman George Persinger said. “Schafer has been the backbone for this team ever since the season started. He played a very big game today.
Coming away with a tie was not exactly what either team was hoping for.
“We don’t feel great,” Harmon said. “We feel like we had a lot more in us, but it was good to come out something, not having lost and keeping the momentum going for the future.”
“I feel like we should’ve won,” Persinger said. “We had a lot of chances but it just didn’t go our way. We’ll see them again in FCIACs.”
Players of the game
Schafer Repsher, Darien and Brendon Harmon, New Canaan: The two goalies deserve plenty of credit for limiting the two hockey powers to just one goal each through 55 minutes. A slight edge goes to Repsher with his 27 saves, but Harmon was solid as well with 15 stops.
Quotable
“Our team defense, including Schafer, has been tremendous all year. New Canaan’s an explosive team and they;ve scored a bunch of goals. So to hold a team like that to one goal is quite an accomplishment and says a lot about the defense and the goalie.” - Darien coach Mac Budd.
No. 2 Darien 1, No. 1 New Canaan 1 (OT)
Darien 1 0 0 0 - 1 New Canaan 0 1 0 0 - 1 D - Alexander Rentz (Gavin Samame), 4:01 NC - Drew Harmon (Caden Leslie), 3:03 Saves: D - Schafer Repsher 27; NC- Brendon Harmon 15 Shots: D - 16; NC - 28 Records: Darien 12-2-1; New Canaan 16-0-1
Feb 11, 2025
Reporter
Dave Stewart is a sports reporter with Hearst Connecticut Media Group who has been covering sports in Connecticut since 1996 and serves as the GameTimeCT writer for volleyball, girls hockey, wrestling and girls lacrosse. He has won multiple New England Newspaper & Press Association and Connecticut SPJ awards for writing and photography and is a member of the FCIAC Hall of Fame.