By Kim J. Harmon

NEWINGTON – It was a CIAC Division II hockey game, but it seemed more like a carnival shooting gallery.

Alas, Newtown was the row of cardboard ducks and Glastonbury was the dude holding the rifle trying to win a stuffed animal for his girlfriend. Goaltender Nick Magoulas was buried under an avalanche of shots – 52 of them, to be exact – and with five of them finding the back of the net the Nighthawks were eliminated from the state tournament, 5-1, to conclude the 2002-03 season at 10-11-1.

The ‘Hawks – who were reached the South-West Conference and CIAC Division II tournaments in their first year as a varsity program under coaches Ken Kantor and Paul Esposito – did what they could to stem the tide in the first period. Magoulas stood strong against some hard shots for more than 14 minutes before finally getting beaten by a soft shot from the high slot.

Despite the 1-0 deficit, it was a pretty good period for the ‘Hawks.

But things soon started to slip away.

Glastonbury scored at 5:36 on a blue line shot that deflected off Magoulas’ stick and then, at 14:17, went up 3-0 on a blistering shot from the left circle that Magoulas simply couldn’t catch up to.

Just 51 seconds into the third period, Glastonbury went up 4-0 and then finished off their offensive attack with another goal at 12:01. Miles Carpenter and Justin Timpano had two goals apiece for the Tomahawks while Tory Fortin had a goal and four assists.

Just seven seconds after Glastonbury went ahead, 5-0, Tim Hoeffel kept the ‘Hawks from being shut out when he took a pass from Nick Harris and flipped a shot from the left circle just under the crossbar past Glastonbury goaltender Greg DuBois.

It was only the 17th shot of the game for the ‘Hawks, who finished with 19. Yes – Glastonbury (seeded No. 2 at 15-5-0) was quick enough and tough enough on defense that it managed to hold off the dual scoring threat of Al Mazur and Nick Harris (who have combined for 47 goals in 2002-03).

Sure, the results of their first tournament appearances (which includes a loss to Masuk in the South-West Conference semi finals) were all that great, but nevertheless it was a good sophomore year for the Newtown hockey program.

Newtown         0        0       1     - 1

Glastonbury     1        2       2     - 5

 

SCORING: 1. Glastonbury – Carpenter (Timpano, Fortin), 2. Glastonbury – Timpano (Carpenter, Fortin), 3. Glastonbury – Timpano (Chan, Fortin), 4. Glastonbury – Timpano (Fortin, Timpano), 5. Glastonbury – Fortin (Chan, Carpenter), 6. Newtown – Hoeffel (Harris).

SAVES: Magoulas (N) 47, DuBois (G) 19.