Milford co-op’s 11th-seeded boys hockey team fell behind 3-1 in the first period and drew within 5-4 in the final minute of the third before falling by that margin to second-seeded Amity of Woodbridge in the Division II state semifinals played at Ingalls Rink in New Haven on Monday.
“I thought the first period really did us in,” Milford coach Sal Follo after his team completed its season with a 13-9-1 record. “The guys never gave up…We kept going at them and going at them…No one thought Milford would be anything at all…There had to be a winner and there had to be a loser.”
Zach White scored two goals and Ben Lavallee and Andrew Gobany had one goal each.
Amity (16-7) will play 13th-seeded Daniel Hand of Madison, which defeated top-seeded East Catholic, for the state title.
The Spartans took a 1-0 lead after a takeaway only 47 seconds into the game between teams that met in January, with Amity winning 5-4.
It was 2-0 Amity at 9:16 of the first, before White scored at 10:08 off an assist from Danny Cyr and Tommy Sampson.
Amity got that back with a power play goal at 12:51.
It was 4-1 Spartans five minutes into the second period when Ben Lavallee put one in. Will Vitelli and David McLenithan had the assists.
Milford fought off a two-man disadvantage, and White scored short-handed at 11:39 to make it 4-3 with Cyr and Lavallee earning assists.
Amity restored its two-goal lead at 5:28 of the third period.
Milford came back again, with Gobany taking a centering pass from White and scoring with 59.3 seconds remaining in regulation. Nash Ericson also had an assist.
John DePalma had 28 stops for Milford. Brian Mosher had 20 saves for Amity.
See the next edition of the Mirror for complete game story.