Milford Mirror

Olsson lifts Indians into playoffs (hockey)

Tuesday, 31 January 2012 15:26

The Milford Indians were in a celebrating mood following Saturday’s last-minute goal that propelled them over Lyman Hall, 3-2, and qualified them for the SCC playoffs for the first time.

The festive occasion almost didn’t come about, as the Trojans from Wallingford scored the game-tying goal with 2:02 left to play.

Kayden Batzinger skated down the ice with a short-handed possession, and at the blue line passed it between the legs of a defender.

Batzinger sidestepped the defender and continued into the crease. After regaining possession, he fired a shot that got under the pads of Indians goalie Matt White to even the score at 2.

All the momentum that Milford had throughout the physical battle seemed to go up in smoke in a matter of seconds.

But there was still time left on the clock to pull out the miraculous, and that’s exactly what the Indians did.

“The defense did a tremendous job out in front the whole game,” said Matt White (15 saves) about his defenders John McLenithan and Ben Lavallee.

“When that goal went in I felt, oh no not again, overtime. “But I saw how much time was left on the clock and I have confidence in every guy in that locker room.

“We showed our true character and never gave up. It’s an awesome feeling to pull out a game like this.”

With the game tied, Milford charged into the Trojans’ end and went right after the net.

Ben Lavallee steered a pass through the defense and Craig Wargo settled the puck in the crease, where he spotted T.J. Olsson at the post.

A quick pass hit Olsson on the stick, and he fired away from point-blank range.

Trojans goalie Kenny Cairns (42 saves) managed to block the puck, but it squirted loose out in front.

Olsson pounced on the rebound and slammed it to the back of the net at 1:09 to put the Indians back on top 3-2.

The 7-4 Indians managed to run out the clock and move within one win of qualifying for the state tournament.

“Ben made a great pass to set us up,” Olsson said. “I broke for the post and Chris put it right there.

“The goalie did a great job stopping the shot, but it came right back at me and I got the rebound to go in. I knew we had enough time and this team never gives up. It was a great team win.”

You would have to go all the back to the 2002 season to rekindle the glory years when the Indians were the Division II state runner-up after winning the SWC titles in 2001 and 2002.

“We made the playdown round a few years back,” said Milford coach Sal Follo, in his 18th year at the helm. “But it has been about seven years since we qualified for the states outright.

“We are one win away from that and this win puts us in the SCC playoffs for the first time.

“It’s a credit to these kids, they never give up. And today we faced a very aggressive physical team. It certainly is a good win to build their confidence.”

Milford was the clear aggressor in the opening period, as it outshot Lyman Hall by a wide 15-4 margin.

That persistence finally paid off with just 29 seconds remaining in the period, when Wargo spotted Zach White coming from behind the net and the pass-and-catch at the post set up a shot that eluded Cairns for a 1-0 Indians lead.

The Indians managed to survive the second period that had them outmanned with four penalties.

At 11:07 of the second period, Brady Dennigan fired a pass the length of the ice that hit Wargo in stride at the point.

The shoulder-high blast got by Cairns for a short-handed goal, giving Milford a 2-0 advantage.

With 6:18 left in the period, the Trojans took advantage of a power play when Derek Lyon picked up the rebound off a Matt White save in the crease, and buried it into the net to put Lyman Hall on the board.

Jay Sleath and Dan Cyr steered possessions into the Trojans end, as the Indians tried to put together an insurance goal heading into the final period.

Richard Cyr and Nick DePascale got off shots at the net, but Cairns made several glove saves to keep it a one-goal game heading into the third period.

With 7:11 left in the game, Milford piled up out in front of the Trojans goal.

Several attempts failed to put it in the net as defenders dove over Cairns protecting the goalie at all costs.

That set up the final frantic minutes of play, and the Indians managed to take the last shot that secured the hair raising 3-2 victory.

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