Just over two minutes into Monday's girls hockey game against Darien, New Canaan found itself down 2-0 to its fiercest Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference rival. Jana Persky and Olivia Hompe got the Rams going a few minutes later. They never stopped.
Hompe scored four goals and Persky added three as the Rams (5-0) skated to a 7-2 win over the Blue Wave at Darien Ice Rink. Hompe, a sophomore, scored three goals in the second period, when the Rams took control with four unanswered goals.
"They had a nice little jump on us,'' New Canaan coach Rich Bulan said. "They really came out flying. I was like, 'What are we waiting for?' "
The Rams turned the momentum around with their power play. Persky scored on a power play goal on a nice set up from Hompe with 6:50 left in the first period. Hompe set up Persky for another power play goal with 4:09 left in the quarter to tie the game. "Those penalties were big,'' Bulan said. "Our offense got untracked and the penalties helped."
The game was all New Canaan after that. Hompe scored two goals in the first five minutes of the second period, and Darien's offense struggled to get anything going against the Rams' defense and goalie Britt Gardella (17 saves). Persky, a senior, and Hompe also had two assists each. Line mate Bea Eppler and Carla Paredes also had assists.
"We're 5-0 and we've had two big tests against Ridgefield and Darien,'' said Bulan, whose team defeated Darien for the league and state titles last year. "I knew it would be a battle against Darien. I thought we would be able to get goals, but we had to stop them. Once we tied it, then we started to really play."
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