CCC Championship Highlight of Hockey Team's Season

The Newington-Berlin hockey team won the CCC South title for the second consecutive year with a convincing 5-0 win over regular season league champion Windsor-Avon-East Granby.

The Indians broke it open in the second period. Leading 1-0 after one, Newington-Berlin tallied three times in an 8-minute span to give itself a four-goal cushion. They finished it off with a goal in the third and received a strong effort in net from senior Mike Reynolds (16 saves).

Newington’s Matt Coco scored twice. Berlin’s Zak Waznia (one goal, one assist), Jordan Wacker (one goal) and Jeff Smolicz (one assist) also contributed offensively. Andrew Richard and Jeff Rossman, both from Newington, added two assists apiece, while Tim Ouellette of Newington accounted for the team’s other goal.

“We played hard all three periods,” Newington-Berlin coach Dave Harackiewicz said. “We established a good forecheck, capitalized on their defensive turnovers, and didn’t allow them to generate much.”

Wacker, who missed the first half of the season with a knee injury, scored Newington-Berlin’s third goal of the game.

“It was a rebound goal,” he described. “I put myself in front of the net. Waznia shot the puck, and it sat between the goalie’s pad and blocker. I backhanded at it, and it went in.”

The Warriors had beaten the Indians twice in the regular season, 3-2 and 4-2. Windsor-East Granby-Avon was a perfect 8-0 in the CCC South in the regular season. Newington-Berlin’s only two league losses came to the Warriors.

Smolicz, just a sophomore and one of Newington-Berlin’s top four defenseman, noticed the over-confidence on the part of the Warriors.

“They went into the game cocky,” he said. “We recognized that, jumped on them from the beginning, and dominated them.”

Newington-Berlin also won the CCC-South title last year when it beat E.O. Smith-Tolland-Windham in overtime, 2-1. Smolicz had a goal in that one, too.

This is the third year of the Newington-Berlin partnership as a varsity hockey program. Harackiewicz indicated that Berlin’s representation has increased each season. There were just four skaters from Berlin in the initial year, and this season seven players from Berlin made the roster. Four of the seven saw key minutes and situations.

“There’s good camaraderie in the locker room,” Harackiewicz said. “Some of the guys have played together in youth hockey. It’s really been a nice marriage, if you will. They are great kids and good hockey players.”

Harackiewicz had good things to say about each. He described Waznia (six goals, 17 points on the season) as a feisty center who was the team’s best faceoff guy that created a lot of havoc on the forecheck. Wacker went “100 miles per hour and was an all-energy type of player who would take on the other team’s biggest guy,” the coach said. And Smolicz is “very strong physically, has a good shot from the point and makes good decisions,” he said.

Brandon Ralph, a Berlin native, served as the team’s No. 1 center. Ralph was third on the team in scoring with 11 goals and 18 assists. His line, with Coco (30 goals) and Brendan Richard (15 goals), accounted for 56 of the team’s 97 goals. The trio combined for 113 points.

“Ralph really worked well with Coco and Richard,” Harackiewicz said. “Brandon is a hard-working type player who is really good in front of the net. He’s very good on rebounds and has his stick on the ice all the time.

“(The Berlin kids) are all players that can play at this level. That’s why they’re out there.”

Wacker and Waznia are both seniors. Wacker hopes to continue his game by playing junior hockey next season while working full-time. According to Wacker, Waznia has been looking at the Coast Guard for post-secondary education.

Forwards Scott McLeod (sophomore) and Dan McLeod (freshman) and goalie Anthony Latina (freshman) also represented Berlin on this year’s squad.

Newington-Berlin finished the season 15-7-1. The Indians won their first round state tournament game against Sheehan, 7-2, before losing in the quarterfinals to eventual state champion Watertown-Pomperaug, 4-2.