Blue Wave shocks, upsets top-seeded West Haven in states

Gregory's 2 late goals lift Darien past top-seeded West Haven

WEST HAVEN -- An ominous 0-5 start to the regular season sparked a roller coaster ride of a campaign for the Blue Wave hockey team this winter.

Several near-misses and stinging defeats paved the way for an uphill battle of steep proportions, as No. 16 seed Darien faced the unenviable task of traveling to West Haven to face the top-seeded Blue Devils last Wednesday night in the first round of state tournament boys hockey.

For Darien forward Richard Gregory though, just a spot -- any spot -- in the postseason was all his team needed to come to life when it counted most.

"We knew that once we got in, anything could happen," Gregory said. "We came in confident tonight and we were close all way through until the end."

With West Haven in front 3-2 and just four minutes remaining, it seemed as if the late push of the Blue Wave was bound to come up short. Gregory had other plans though, suddenly lighting the lamp off a deft feed from Nick Bruno to knot things up, 3-3.

Having adopted a defensive approach throughout the final period, West Haven remained on its heels as Darien quickly seized momentum. A face-off deep in the West Haven zone with 10 seconds in regulation left all signs pointing to an overtime stanza.

Once again, though, Gregory had another plan in mind.

"I won the face-off, put the puck on net, and (Brenden) Hathaway put a good shot on net off the rebound," Gregory said. "The puck popped back out to me, I found the back of the net and I finished the job."

With Gregory able to cap an improbable 4-3 road win over the state's top team courtesy of his last-second tally from just inside the left circle, Darien head coach Larry Vieira reflected on his squad's triumphant comeback effort.

"Our guys have endured a lot of up's and down's this season, and there were some games and some plays that just didn't go their way," Vieira said. "But they knew they had a chance to make something special happen in that final period. Well, The Hockey Gods were here with us tonight."

Darien gained an early lead when Hathaway found the back of the cage for a 1-0 Wave lead six minutes into action. West Haven, blessed with a great deal of team speed, proceeded to pound the Darien cage with quality chances off various up-ice rushes.

With five minutes to go in the first, Tim Baylis beat Will Love to even things up, and Baylis wasn't finished there. The talented forward screamed in on the cage two more times before the close of the period only to be denied by Love (30 saves), but Baylis beat Love once more early in the second stanza for the 2-1 West Haven lead.

John Baker evened up the score for Darien, finishing off a loose puck in front to make it a 2-2 game with eight minutes left in the second period. Love stopped another flurry of West Haven chances before surrendering a third goal with three minutes to go in the second, as Blue Devils forward Ryan Bruneau lit the lamp from atop the crease following a blast from the point to give host West Haven the 3-2 edge heading into the intermission. For Love though, confidence was never in short supply despite the deficit.

"They are a great team, and I knew I would be busy all night," Love said. "All week long, I kept telling the guys that no matter what, we would win this game. I can't say why exactly, but I just had the feeling."

For Darien, the moments heading into the final period were calm and collected inside the visitor's locker room.

"The heat is always going to be on the No. 1 seed, no doubt about it," Vieira said. "I stressed to the guys that if we could get one goal to tie things up, then it would be anyone's game. The guys were quiet and focused; there wasn't any yelling or anything.

"Once we tied things up late, the heat was really on them (West Haven). We didn't have to face the same pressure that West Haven did, and I think that helped us. Our guys just worked hard and played good hockey from start to finish. It was a tremendous effort and a true testament to how badly they wanted this game."

Once the final period commenced, the Blue Devils did indeed seem to be feeling the pressure of holding on to advance past the Blue Wave. Sure enough, after Gregory struck pay dirt to knot the score at 3-3, Darien proceeded to place the knockout blow directly on the chin of the their top-ranked counterpart thanks to the final Gregory tally in the waning moments.

"We knew going into tonight, regardless of the seeds and the rankings, that anything could happen," Gregory said. "Well, we went out there and we made it happen."