Fermi-Enfield Eliminates Tri-Town From State Tournament Consideration

For the second straight game, the Fermi-Enfield co-op hockey team overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat an in-house rival. This time, the effect was devastating to its opponent.

Tri-Town needed a win and tie in its final two games to qualify for the Division 1 state tournament, but could not protect a 2-0 lead as Fermi-Enfield prevailed 5-3 Saturday at the .

"I'm really proud of our team  because I really think we gave it our all today," Tri-Town head coach Paul Dowe said. "At the end of the day, we just couldn't put the puck away. The majority of our team played JV last year, so to step up the way they did today, it was a battle and they battled every night."

On a day when the teams honored its combined 19 senior players and managers in a pregame ceremony, senior Ryan Sayers had two goals for Fermi-Enfield, including the first of two goals within 10 seconds that vaulted his team into the lead for good early in the third period.

"We got five goals today from four different seniors, and that's a really good way to spread out the scoring," Fermi-Enfield head coach Frank Genovese said. "It's always nice to win, but it's even nicer to win on Senior Day in front of a big crowd."

Ronnie Williams got Tri-Town on the board four minutes into the contest, taking advantage of a Fermi-Enfield giveaway at the blue line. Less than three minutes later, Cullen Roberts converted on a power play to give Tri-Town a 2-0 lead.

Sayers cut the margin in half late in the first period, poking home a rebound after a scramble in front of Tri-Town goaltender Mitch DiResta.

Nick Varner scored during a 4-on-4 situation late in the second period to tie the game for Fermi-Enfield heading into the second intermission.

Fermi-Enfield came out flying in the third period, with Sayers rifling home a wrist shot into the top left corner at 2:57 to give his team the lead. Cam Korona then beat DiResta 10 seconds later for a two-goal Fermi-Enfield advantage.

Tri-Town refused to fold, and Williams tallied his second goal of the game near the midway point of the session to pull within 4-3.

Fermi-Enfield had two chances to ice the contest. With two minute remaining, DiResta stopped Jason Despard alone in front, then moments later, Avery Boissy clanged a shot off the goalpost.

Dowe called a timeout with 1:22 left to reset his offense, including pulling DiResta in favor of a sixth attacker. The strategy did not work, however, as Brendan Lemire scored into the empty net with 42 seconds remaining to eliminate Tri-Town from postseason consideration.

Fermi-Enfield goaltender Aaron Lickwar made 24 saves to earn the victory.

Fermi-Enfield (9-10) concludes the regular schedule Monday, traveling to West Haven at 6 p.m. Tri-Town (6-12-1) winds up its season Wednesday in Simsbury at 5:45 p.m.

Scoring Summary

Fermi-Enfield
Goals: Ryan Sayers (2), Nick Varner, Cam Korona, Brendan Lemire.
Assists: Ryan Zetterholm (2), Adam Macsata, Matt Boulette, Nick Ferracci, Avery Boissy.

Tri-Town
Goals: Ronnie Williams (2), Cullen Roberts.
Assists: Nick Binkowski (2), Roberts.

Score By Periods
Fermi-Enfield    1  1  3 - 5
Tri-Town             2  0  1 - 3

Goaltender Saves
Fermi-Enfield: Aaron Lickwar, 24
Tri-Town: Mitch DiResta, 26