While most games were postponed on Thursday, the Stamford High School and Trinity Catholic High School boys hockey teams got permission from the superintendent of schools to play their intra-city grudge match at Terry Conners Rink.
Trinity was glad the game went off. Crusaders goalie Brian Romano played the game of his high school career with 26 saves. And junior winger Tim Keane scored twice as Trinity shut out Stamford High, 3-0, for just its second win the
season.
"Once you get the mindset of shutout, that's when you start to bobble pucks and they go in the net," Romano said. "I just kept my mind focused on the game. This is a huge momentum builder going into the FCIAC part of our schedule."
After a relatively quiet first period, Trinity came out in the second with guns blazing. Keane scooped up a rebound and slipped a backhand into the net just in front of the crease at 2:38 into the period. Before the rowdy Trinity students in the stands had even stopped cheering, Stephen Klosz grabbed another rebounded shot and found a hole on the left side to stretch the Crusader lead to 2-0.
The flurry of goals woke up the Black Knights offense, which outshot Trinity the rest of the way. Romano handled every shot he had to endure, flailing every which way the puck came at him. Romano even covered the puck with his back when a shot by Stamford center Nick Hollendonner briefly got behind him in the crease.
Stamford outshot Trinity 20-10 in the final two periods and 26-18 overall, but Romano would not relent. Keane put the win on ice for the Crusaders with a sizzling wrist shot at 9:50 in the third for his second goal.
"Let's face it, we've had a really tough schedule so far this season," Trinity head coach Chris Gerwig said. "We're a really young team, but you can throw the records out the window in a city game. We're getting to a part of our schedule where we could string some wins together and maybe get to states."
The Crusaders are 2-10 overall, but have only played four FCIAC games thus far. Trinity will put its newfound confidence to the test when it hosts Staples-Weston-Shelton Co-Op on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The Black Knights fell to 4-6 overall and 1-3 in the FCIAC.
Do you think Trinity Catholic can turn its season around and make states? Do you think Stamford High can make the state tournament? Start the discussion below!
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