Mike Diglio scored what proved to be the game-winning goal and goalie Jason Bailin made 20 saves to lead No. 2 Cheshire to a 3-2 win over No. 1 Amity in front of an estimated crowd of 900 at Bennett Rink in West Haven on Saturday.
Diglio’s goal at 10:47 of the third period gave the Rams a 3-1 lead. Diglio broke alone down the right wing and sent a rising shot from the bottom of the right circle that caught the inside of the left post.
It was Cheshire’s second straight SCC title and third overall with a championship in 1999.
“I was fortunate to get a goal and pad our lead (3-1),” Diglio said “As it turned out, it was an important goal.”
Cheshire improves to 17-5 and Amity falls to 18-3-1.
Behind 2-0 at the end of two periods, Amity’s late rally fell short and it was a tough blow for the Spartans.
“That was a heartbreaker,” Amity coach Gary Lindgren said. “We played hard, we played well and it was a great hockey atmosphere overall. But that third goal was the backbreaker. We fought back but we just ran out of time.”
Both teams had chances to score in the first period but it was the Rams who got on the board with the only goal of the period.
With Amity’s Joey Ciancola serving a hooking penalty, Cheshire defenseman J.D. Keegan took a shot from the left point. Cheshire forward Mike Devine was camped out near the left post and redirected the shot past Amity goalie Alec Mansfield for a 1-0 lead with 55 seconds left in the first period.
The Rams padded the lead with another late goal in the second period and Diglio was involved in the play with an assist. Diglio sent a lead pass to Nate Gaudio breaking down center ice. Gaudio split two Amity defenders and wristed a shot past Mansfield for a 2-0 lead with 50 seconds left in the period.
Amity, ranked eighth in the Register Top 10 poll, has been dominant in the third period this season and the trend continued. With a faceoff at the right circle in the Cheshire zone, Amity’s Sam Noss took the faceoff and scored unassisted at 5:49 to cut the lead to 2-1.
After Diglio scored to make it 3-1, the Amity pressure increased and Bailin became a very busy man between the pipes. As the time wound down and Bailin kept making saves to preserve the lead, Lindgren pulled Mansfield with just over a minute left in the game. The sixth man on the ice paid off with Kurt Wehr scoring to cut the lead to 3-2. But there were only 11 seconds left in the game. After the ensuing faceoff, Cheshire controled the puck and killed the time for the win.
Mansfield also ended up with 20 saves in the game.