Southern Connecticut Hockey League

Hamden,CT.

Ben Castiline scored with 1:04 left to play in the game to give the CT. Redwings a 7-6 win over the New Haven Mustangs on Sunday night. Forward Blake Barone assisted on the goal after Castiline picked up his rebound and fired the pack past Mustang goalie Dan Ells.

Redwings defenseman Matt Walter scored the first goal of the game 5 minutes into the first period on assists from defensemen Nick Sylvestre and CJ Hedges. Barone would then score his first of the night on a powerplay after receiving a pass from defenseman Scott Jason, then powering his way by a Mustang defenseman and releasing a quick shot that beat Ells on his lower left side to take a 2-0 lead. Three minutes later, Castiline would score his first of the game after taking a pass from forward Shawn Nutcher to increase the lead by 3 goals heading into the second period.

Still plenty of game left, the Mustangs recuperated and continued to fight back after receiving  a goal from defenseman Mike Acabbo. Defenseman Dan Hearn skated into the offensive zone and left a drop pass for Acabbo who blasted a slap shot from the top of the left face-off circle and beat Redwings goalie Anthony Avitable to put the score at 3-1. Acabbo would take part in the next Mustang goal 2 minutes later after getting off a shot that was kicked away into the corner by Avitable only to be picked up by forward Craig Cushing who scored from just inside the slot to put his team within 1 goal of tying the Redwings. Mustang defenseman Paul Wiggin was called for a hook with just over a minute left in the second period to send the Redwings on the power play that would continue on into the third period. 

With 30 seconds remaining on the Redwing power play at the start of the third, defenseman Mike D'Angelo got off a shot from the point that was tipped in by forward Mike Nutcher for a second power play goal. Now up 4-2, the Redwings continued to apply more offensive pressure and succeeded when forward Ralph Difonzo scored a goal on assists from Shawn Nutcher and Mike Nutcher to regain another 3 goal lead. Still determined to come back, the Mustangs would score two quick goals three minutes apart to put the score at 5-4. Forward Kyle Amarone scored the first of the two goals on assists from Wiggin and forward Vanja Duric, while Hearn would tally the second on assists from forward Dan DiLauro and Acabbo. 

The Redwings wouldn't give up that easily as they managed to answer back on a goal from Barone that was assisted by Difonzo to take a 6-4 lead in the middle of the period. Back and forth was the story of the game all night and the intensity was turned up a notch during the last 5 minutes of the game. Amarone scored his second of the game on a low shot on the ice past Avitable's right side to put the Mustangs within one. The Redwings took a penalty shortly after the last Mustang goal when Mike Nutcher was called for a slash and sent the Mustangs on the powerplay. Amarone then scored his third to complete the hat trick on a goal that developed at the blue line. The Redwings attempted to ice the puck along the boards but Wiggin managed to keep it in the zone and chipped a pass off the boards to Cushing just above the right side corner. Cushing hit DiLauro with a pass above the opposite face off circle who then found Amarone at the back door to finish the play and tie the game at 6-6. At this point both teams had become more determined to win. Having lost the lead twice already, the Redwings were persistent in their effort to earn the victory and did so when Castiline would go on to score his second of the night and the game would end with a score of 7-6 in favor on the Redwings.

Anthony Avitable made 39 saves for the Redwings, while Dan Ells made 33 saves for the Mustangs. The Redwings now stand with a record of 3-6 and fighting for the 3rd seed heading into the playoffs. The Mustangs are now 6-3 and are in a close race for the number 1 seed with Chips who trail just 2 pts behind them in the league standings.