By: Eli Corenthal ’19

In a 8-6 loss the Wreckers faced off against the Eastern Connecticut Eagles on March 15 in the state semifinal matchup at Yale University.

Staples came in as the number one seed and their players were excited. “We were anticipating a high intensity, fast paced game which we loved,” Jacob Stanford ’19 said.

The Eagles came in as the number eight seed and no one knew how they would play. “They definitely were better than I️ think everyone thought, and they played a great game,” Stanford said.
A high powered Eagle offense went up against a strong Wrecker defense, with captain Zack Bloom ’18 in net.
Instead of the Eagles offense getting to a fast start, it was Zach Strober ’19 who scored and took the lead for the Wreckers. Shortly after, the Eagles got on the board with a slap shot by Devin Jordan.

This became a trend throughout the game. Staples always seemed to score than the Eagles would match them.

The same trend continued until Eagles’ Captain Kevin Close scored to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead with three minutes to play. However, Sam New ’18 saved the day for the Wreckers, tying the game minutes after Close’s goal.

But since the game was so back and forth, the Eagles scored a minute later and then one more time with an empty net goal to seal the victory.

“We were so close,” Luke Welch ’19 said. We were only a couple minutes and a few goals away from playing for a state championship.”
Welch also reflected on the Wrecker season after the game. “We held our heads high, our season was incredible. For the first time in years, we beat Darien, and we qualified for the FCIAC tournament, which is hard to do.”

Through all the heroics of the semi-final, the Eagles were victorious in their next game taking home the Division III State Final against Tri-Town.