Southern Connecticut Hockey League

Hamden,CT.

Mike Acabbo scored with 2:23 remaining in overtime to give the New Haven Mustangs a win over Dragon Club on Wednesday night. Mustang fowards Todd Hall and Vanja Duric assisted on the goal. Acabbo beat Dragon Club goalie Jason Szerszen with a high wrist shot from just outside the faceoff circle.

Dragon Club drew first blood early in the first period when forward TJ Shatz came down on the right side and beat Mustangs goalie Dan Ells with a quick shot on the ice, taking a 1-0 lead. The Mustangs responded later in the period on a goal by forward Paul Wiggin. Forward Dan DiLauro slid the puck past a Dragon Club defenseman to a streaking Wiggin who drove to the net beating Szerszen with a backhand to put the Mustangs up on the board. Nearing the end of the 1st, Dragon Club took the lead once again to go up 2-1 off a goal by forward Sean Whelan who received a pass from forward Kyle Tyll. The Mustangs had two power play opportunities during the period when Dragon Club forward Steve Novodor was called for tripping and then a hold shortly after, but could not capitilize on either chance.

In the second period, the Mustangs fired back with a goal from defenseman Chris Wagner at the 4:30 mark. It was only a matter of minutes before Dragon Club would respond when forward Brian Courtmanche scored after being set up with passes from forward Will Wrothfuss and defenseman Erik Forselius. Later in the second, Szerszen came out of his net to clear the puck but the pass was picked off at the blue line by DiLauro who deked by a defenseman in the slot and rang a wrist shot off of the left post. Mustangs forward Kyle Amarone quickly picked up the puck and buried the rebound to tie the game at 3-3. Mustangs defenseman Rob Celentano was called for a hold which put Dragon Club on the powerplay early in the period, but the power play unit could not penetrate the Mustang penalty kill.

Early in the third period the Mustangs took the lead by going up 5-3 off of goals from Hall and Amarone. Forward Craig Cushing set up Hall who came down on the left side and put the puck past Szerszen's blocker. Amarone took a pass behind the net from forward Dan Mauriello and managed to bounce the puck off of a Dragon Club player and into the net. The score remained the same until late in the period when Dragon Club pulled Szerszen and forward Kyle Tyll notched a pair of goals both in near identical form from inside the slot. Novodor took a pass from Shatz and then fed the puck to Tyll who beat Ells with a low right side shot. 30 seconds later, the Mustangs struggled to clear the puck out of their own zone and Dragon Club tied the game when Shatz hit Tyll in the slot, beating Ells for a second time.

In overtime, Dragon Club forward Paul Dow was called for tripping 32 seconds in and sent the Mustangs on the powerplay. The Mustangs were only able to get off 3 shots which were all denied by Szerszen. Shortly after the powerplay, was when Acabbo scored to give the Mustangs the W and an overall record of (5-1) to remain in first place in the SCHL standings. Dragon Club is currently in third with a record of (2-2-1). Dan Ells made 32 saves for the Mustangs and Jason Szerszen had 44 for Dragon Club. The two teams meet again on Dec. 1, at the Hamden Rink.