In less than two months, the Fairfield Prep boys ice hockey team went from one win to conference champion. With a superlative performance which featured a hat trick from Connor Driscoll and a shutout by goalie Charlie Rodrigue and the defense, Fairfield Prep defeated Notre Dame-West Haven 4-0 and captured the SCC Division I crown Friday at Bennett Rink. Asked about what he was thinking in the final few seconds of the game, Driscoll smiled."Where to put my gear so I don't lose it," said Driscoll, who was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. "It's just an amazing feeling throwing your gear in the air and getting ready to go to the goalie." It's been a whiplash season for the Jesuits, who defeated Ridgefield in their season-opener but then lost eight straight and dropped to the bottom of the GametimeCT Top 10 Poll. Since Jan. 22, they've gone 9-3-1 and now have the championship t"All teams in high school have to mature and maximize their potential," Fairfield Prep coach Vin O'Hara said. "Really it's a race to see who can do both of those. For us, it was learning to play from the net out. Time on the ice helps, but really for us it was about learning schemes, and making sure we're sticking to them and communicating. Those were key factors along with making sure when we're down we're not out." The SCC championship was Fairfield Prep's seventh, not including a co-championship the Jesuits shared with Notre Dame-West Haven in 2021. The two rivals have played in the league's Division I final nine times, with the Jesuits going 7-2. The Green Knights won last year's final via shutout. Fairfield Prep also snapped a five-game losing streak against Notre Dame, including losses of 6-0 and 6-3 earlier this winter. "I thought Fairfield Prep looked tremendous," Notre Dame-West Haven coach Larry Vieira said. "They had foot speed, they took the play to us in the first period. All the credit to them. We're a pretty good team and they forced us into mistakes. They had pressure on us throughout. They outplayed us and they out-coached us." Fairfield Prep came out fast and furious, with Driscoll scoring his first goal with an assist from Brooks Reynolds 3:29 after the opening drop. He then added a second goal, this time on a power play, a little more than four minutes later. At the other end, Rodriguez, a sophomore, was unbreakable in the net. He racked up 24 saves, several on point-blank shots and, fronted by a defense which featured Christopher Sola, Tyler Pulie, Reynolds and Aidan Ayers, zipped up the Knights. "You can't shut out a team without people around you," Rodrigue said. "You can't do it by yourself. It's a full team thing. We all worked together, I had their back and they had mine." After a scoreless and penalty-laden second period, the Jesuits put the game out of reach in the third. Driscoll completed his hat trick with 13:55 remaining. "He's an incredibly talented and hard-working guy," O'Hara said of Driscoll. "But it takes a team and a system and he's committed. He plays within it well and his speed really is the difference. He has an electric shot, he doesn't need much room and he just let it fly tonight." Notre Dame-West Haven and Fairfield Prep could meet a fourth time this season in the CIAC Division I quarterfinals on March 15. The Green Knights are the No. 4 seed and have a first-round bye, while the Jesuits are No. 5 and host the winless Fairfield co-op in the first round on Wednesday."That's a very good hockey team and we haven't seen the last of them," O'Hara said. "We're on the same side of the bracket and we'll make sure we don't get too high on ourselves so we can be ready for the next challenge.
Player of the game
Connor Driscoll, Fairfield Prep: The junior forward was on fire, scoring the Jesuits' first three goals and leading the way to the championship and the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award,
"It was tough at 1-8 but we pushed each other harder and harder every day and it's definitely paid off. It's all about the schedule and that's the reason we were 1-8. We started (winning) towards the end of the year and it really paid off." – Fairfield Prep junior Connor DriscollFairfield Prep 4, Notre Dame-West Haven 0
Fairfield Prep 2 0 2 - 4
Notre Dame-West Haven 0 0 0 - 0
FP – Connor Driscoll (Brooks Reynolds), 11:31
FP – Driscoll (Henry Schwartz, Matt DeLuca), 7:13
FP – Driscoll (Tyler Pulie, Schwartz), 13:55
FP – Matthew Tuvlin (Luca Bosco), 10:17
Saves: FP – Charlie Rodrigue 24; ND – Ben Amarone 20, Jacob Silva 6
Records: Fairfield Prep 10-11-1; NDWH 11-11-0
