The Stamford High School/Westhill Co-op Ice Hockey Team’s spectacular season came to an end after an early departure from the state tournament this season. The Knights/Vikings finished with a 10-7-1 overall record and a 6-4-1 FCIAC record, placing them at the 4th seed during their conference tournament. Their qualification for the Class LL FCIAC tournament ended a drought of nearly 13 years without an appearance. In their run in the FCIAC, the boys ice hockey team managed to squeeze into the semifinals but lost a hard fought battle to top ranked Ridgefield with a score of 6-2.

The team will look to use this experience as a learning method in preparation for their next season, however they will have to do this without the help of some key athletes. The Knights/Vikings will be losing seniors Nick Rich (Forward) and Christian Compolattaro (Goalie), both of whom are First Team All FCIAC stars from Westhill. They will also lose Second Team All FCIAC Owen Kilian (Forward) and John Nielson (Defenseman) causing the team to lose quite a bit of experience and skill on both sides of the puck. When asked how good the team will be compared to this year’s, junior Everette Dolan (Defenseman) replied by saying “Next season we are looking to be a middle ranked team trying to push to make states in division two. We are losing almost all of our starters, and are going to have to look to younger, less experienced players to step up and fill their roles.” He later exclaimed that he was hopeful stating “We’ll be running a short bench, but we are familiar to that type of play.” Freshman Gavin Dolan (Forward) shared his thoughts on the season saying “I think the best part of this season was playing along side some of the best seniors in the state. Every young kid on the team looked up to them, and being able to play with players of that level was special.”

As the season came to a close against a first round loss to East Haven (8-5), the Stamford Co-op seniors saw, what likely will be for most, the last game of their hockey career. Senior Nick Smeriglio (Defenseman) reminisced on his time playing hockey admitting that “It’s a pretty rough thought. Hockey has been something that was there for me my entire life. Knowing that it’s all over really sucks.” He later explained that he thought the season was great, stating “We made it to states and for the first time in years we qualified for FCIACs and made it to the second round. Although it ended pretty early on the state tournament it was nice having our last game at our home rink.”