3/9/10-Middletown--Farmington head coach Mike Barone had a plan and he got his team to buy into it. The Indians faced third-seeded Cheshire in the first round of the Connecticut Division II hockey tournament.
Within minutes of the first puck drop everyone in the arena could see that Cheshire had the horses and talent back from last year's championship squad. What most didn’t know is that Farmington had an equalizer for the big red machine. The equalizer was goalie Kyle Chemente.
Chemente stopped 20 shots in the first period ranging from blue line bullets to breakaways. Kyle was standing on his head and would need to stay there to keep his team in the game. Farmington Senior Connor Burns was not impressed with the Cheshire onslaught, and was likely the only one at Spurrier-Snyder Rink that could change the game. He did so with an unassisted goal about three minutes into the game with a hard one timer from the right face-off circle.
This seemed to put Cheshire on their heels as they could not figure out how to get one past Chemente (49 saves). Burns would get the Farmington faithful in a full frenzy when he added his second goal of the period with two minutes remaining.
Farmington's defense did its best to keep the speedy and hard working Cheshire forwards from getting into a rhythm while Chemente stayed tough as Farmington held its 2-0 lead.
The second period much like the first saw Cheshire come out flying and their big all-state forward Dave Devine rocketed a slap shot past Chemente to get the Rams back in the game. A power play goal half way through the period got Cheshire even and the game was on.
Farmingtons defense led by CJ Spellman and Luke Thomson was equal to the task as Farmington kept the game even with five minutes left in the third period. CJ Spellman made the play of the game when he managed to break up a 4-on-1 rush by Cheshire. With Farmington wearing down and desperately trying to kill penalty after penalty Cheshire broke the camels back with 4 minutes left in the third to take a 3-2 lead.
Farmington went on the power-play with two minutes left to try to get the game even again. Coach Barone pulled Chemente to give the Indians the 6-on-4 advantage. Farmington managed a barrage of shots but couldn’t get the bounce they needed. A long rebound was gathered by Cheshire and sent into the empty net for a two goal lead.
With Farmington in desperation mode and attacking the net, Cheshire found themselves with an odd-man rush and capitalized to post a final score of 5-2, which was hardly indicative of the battle that took place.
Farmington finishes the season CCC-East Champions with a record of 10-10-2. |
