DARIEN — Tony DelCarmine picked a perfect night for his first hat trick of the season.
DelCarmine broke the scoring ice with a second-period goal and added two more in the third to lead the New Canaan boys ice hockey team to its 22nd FCIAC championship with a 4-1 victory over Ridgefield Tuesday night at Sacred Heart University’s Martire Family Arena.
It was the second-straight FCIAC title for the Rams, with both finals coming against Ridgefield.
“It feels good,” DelCarmine said. “We knew what we were capable of. We knew how to get it done and we took care of business.”
The Rams took the lead with seven minutes to play in the second period. Rogan Lowe and Bryce Lyden won the puck on the boards behind the Tigers’ net. Lyden sent a pass in front to DelCarmine, who sent a perfect one-timer past Ridgefield goalie James Britton.
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“He stepped up in a big moment,” New Canaan coach Clark Jones said of DelCarmine. “You need guys to make plays. On that first goal that he scored, Bryce asserted himself and moved it to Tony and Tony’s been finishing, He’s been scoring and once that starts to roll it starts happening more. He’s fast, he’s smart and that was a cool moment for him.”
New Canaan has now won four of the last six FCIAC championships and its 22 titles lead the league by a wide margin. Greenwich is second with 11. Darien and Ridgefield have nine apiece.
New Canaan was holding a 1-0 edge heading into the third period when wildness ensued: the teams combined for three goals in a span of 28 seconds.
DelCarmine scored the first two to extend the Rams’ lead to three. Ridgefield’s Angelo Ciminiello put the Tigers on the board to make it 3-1 with 7:29 remaining,
Things settled down thereafter, with Lowe — who already had two assists — scored an empty net goal with 1:13 to go. Rogan's older brother, Max, scored the game-winner in OT in last year's FCIAC championship victory.
Ridgefield has finished the season strong while playing for interim head coach Matt Richards, a longtime assistant who took over when Shaun Gallagher stepped down after 18 seasons in February.
“Shaun did step down and we’ve got Matt Richards as our interim head coach for the remainder of the season," Ridgefield Athletic Director Dane Street said. "Shaun has been at it a long time so he’s seen all aspects of this. And it got to a point, especially with his son (Timothy) on the team, he kind of felt like this was the best course of action in the short term.”
Street said Richards, an assistant on Gallagher's six FCIAC championship teams, will lead the Tigers through the tournaments and a decision on what comes next for the program will be made in the offseason.
“I was proud of the way they executed our game plan,” Richards said. “The objective for us was to give us an opportunity going into the third period and we did that. Going into the third period at 1-0 against New Canaan with their offense was remarkable. That gave us the opportunity to have a chance to win it.”
Now, the Rams will turn their attention to the Division I tournament, looking not only for their first state championship since 1972, but also the state’s first unbeaten season since Enfield went 23-0 in 1983.
New Canaan is the first team to go unbeaten during the regular season since Ridgefield in 2019. The Tigers won the FCIAC title that year, but lost to Xavier in OT in the CIAC Division I quarterfinals.
“We’ve talked about the word undefeated,” Jones said. “There’s so much work to do ahead, so we focus our attention on that. If you want to get to the end, you’ve got to keep putting your work boots on and go.”
Player of the game
Tony DelCarmine, New Canaan: The junior picked a great night for a hat trick, earning MVP honors in the Rams’ latest FCIAC championship.
Quotable
“It’s just a reflection of all the hard work and the effort and preparation this team has put in this season. We’re committed every day, we go to practice trying to get better and we’re consistently pushing ourselves to be the best we can. Today was just a reflection of what our team is striving to be,” - New Canaan senior co-captain Bryce Lyden
FCIAC BOYS HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
New Canaan 4, Ridgefield 1
RIDGEFIELD 0 0 1 - 1 NEW CANAAN 0 1 3 - 4 NC - Tony DelCarmine (Bryce Lyden), 7:00 NC - DelCarmine (Jackson Crowell, Rogan Lowe), 7:57 NC - DelCarmine (Brooks Thompson, Lowe), 7:37 R - Angelo Ciminiello, 7:29 NC - Lowe, 1:13 Saves: R - James Britton 29; NC - Brendon Harmon 17 Records: Ridgefield 14-9-0; New Canaan 21-0-1