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Sports

Rams Boys Hockey Still Alive and Well

Cheshire meets Wilton Monday in Division II semifinal; Boys Basketball ends memorable season.

A little more than a week ago Daniel Hand High of Madison sent Cheshire home after the Rams' 2-1 loss in the Southern Connecticut Conference Division II boys hockey semifinals.

Eight days later, the Rams turned things around and eliminated Hand by the same score on a bigger stage. and now head to Monday's semifinal matchup with Wilton (12-9-1) at Yale's Ingalls Rink at 5:30 p.m.

Cheshire sophomore Owen Powers provided both goals for the Rams, the game-winner an unassisted length-of-the-ice rush that featured deft stick-handling and a precise shot from the slot to beat Hand goalie Dan Tagilarini.

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"First game they outworked us and second game we outworked them," Owen Powers said. "It's all about hard work. Both these teams are very skilled."

The Rams' also received a stellar performance from junior goalie Tyler Carbone, who made 16 saves, many acrobatic, particularly in the final three minutes.

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"He's a great goalie," Powers said. "It's always awesome when he shows up because he's just unstoppable."

"I feel so good," said senior captain Matt Dupont, who missed part of the season with a concussion. "Missing those games was probably one of the hardest things I had to do. I'm happy I'm back. I hope I can get my chance. I'll just try to grind it out. It's my role on the team.

"I had my eyes close for the first two (of the last three minutes). I grinded it out for the last minute. John's (Cunningham) our leader on defense. Matt Muzyka, Owen Powers and Tyler Violano just grinding it out. Hopefully they can do the same thing in the semifinals."

Wilton plays in the highly competitive Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, but the teams did have nine common opponents. Cheshire went 9-3 against those teams; Wilton 5-4-1.

"We're excited just to be there (in the semis)," Cheshire head coach Jim Riccitelli said. "We have practice and kids can't wait to get there. Get on the bus, get to practice, practicing Sunday and we'll be ready for Monday."

Boys Basketball

The Cheshire boys basketball team's season came to an end with a , a close and highly competitive matchup in which the Rams led into the fourth quarter.

The Rams (13-10) made quite a progression from the start of the season, beginning 0-4 and then winning 12 of their next 14 games.

"A lot guys can contribute on any night," senior Nate Trumbo said following the season-ending loss. "The main guards, Greg (Leonetti) and Matt (Bailey), me and Justin (Zovas), Billy (Weyrauch), Collin (Jordan), any of us can knock down the open shots.

"It's a fun group. We really had a good time. We really enjoyed this group of six seniors together."

The graduating seniors include Trumbo, Jovas, Leonetti, Bailey, David Wright and Gil Lassen.

"It's tough to say goodbye to this group," Cheshire head coach Dan Lee said. "A lot of people say they've only been playing varsity basketball for this year. They've been behind a number of seniors that graduated the last couple of years. What they did this year, it just goes to character. When the chips are down, they don't get down. When we needed to work the day after a tough loss, they're the first ones to step up and do it.

"They taught us some lessons this year, too. About resilience, about dealing with disappointment. They're going to leave a footprint behind and that's what you want. As a team you want to leave something behind and they definitely did. We're going to miss them. As players is one thing but as people probably twice as much."

Girls Hockey

The North Haven/Amity/Branford/Cheshire girls hockey co-op team lost to New Canaan 3-2 in the state semifinals March 2 at Darien Rink. The co-op finished the season 15-9, 9-3 Central Connecticut Girls Hockey League.

Cheshire junior Jordan Ruocco had a team-high 28 goals and 25 assists.

National Indoor Track

Jake Scinto finished 10th in the long jump at the New Balance National Indoor Championships with a jump of 22 feet, 1 1/2 inches on Saturday at the New Balance Armory in New York. Scinto also placed 22nd in the high jump with a 6-3 1/2 Saturday. Teammate Sean Mueller was 21st in the 5,000 meters in 16:02.61 on Friday.

Cheerleading

The Cheshire High cheerleaders placed third in the New England Cheer Association Cheer & Dance open varsity division at  East Haven High on March 5.

Five juniors — Taylor Frazier, Emily Su, Emily Schwartz, Jessica Massucci and Alycia Norberg — were chosen for the 2012 All-American Cheer & Dance Pro Bowl Performance Tour and National Scholarship Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Hometown News

Todd Heritage (2010) scored with 2:40 left in double overtime to lift the Bucknell University men's lacrosse team to a 12-11 victory over Navy Monday. Heritage also scored with 44 seconds left in the first half. On Saturday, Heritage scored two goals and had two assists in an 11-9 victory at Hobart College. He has eight goals and four assists for 12 points this season. Bucknell is 4-1, 1-0 Patriot League. ... Shane Russo (2010) has scored three goals in three games for King's College (1-2). He has a .538 shots-on-goal percentage.

Bryan Dorsey (2007) helped the Southern Connecticut State baseball team sweep a doubleheader, 13-2 and 4-0, over Mercy College, going 3-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored Friday in Fort Pierce, Fla. The No. 15 nationally-ranked Owls are 9-0 after a 5-1 win over Bloomfield College Saturday in Boca Raton, Fla. Through six games (SCSU's latest statistics update), Dorsey was hitting .455 with two home runs and seven RBI.

Kevin Jefferis (2009) is 1-1 as a starting pitcher with the Western New England College baseball team, which is 2-2.

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