'Perfectly imperfect hockey team': Hartford boys solve Colchester for 1st title since '09

Longtime Hartford High School boys hockey coach Todd Bebeau admitted he's had better teams, more talented players in recent seasons.

Two years ago, the Hurricanes were undefeated and poised to cap a perfect season until Milton pulled off an unprecedented comeback in the championship game. Last winter, Hartford's 18-win campaign came to close in the semifinals to eventual champion U-32.

"This may not be the best team that I’ve ever coached, but they do things that skilled guys can’t do," said the 26-year Hartford bench boss. "They are the perfectly imperfect hockey team."

And Tuesday, Hartford's grit wouldn't be denied.

Cavan Benjamin's power play goal in the second period was enough for the No. 3 Hurricanes, who subdued top-seeded Colchester's high-scoring attack for a 3-1 victory in the Division II state title game at Gutterson Fieldhouse, seizing the program's first crown since 2009.

Paired with the Hurricanes girls' historic title earlier in the night, Hartford is the first D-II school to sweep the hockey championships in 17 years.

"It feels amazing. I love this game, I love this team," Benjamin said. "It feels amazing to win it with them."

Coached up after not pulling the trigger on an earlier chance, Benjamin tucked away a wrister on an quick-striking man-advantage at 3:20 of the middle frame. Ezra Mock won the faceoff, flicking back to Lochlan Park, who pushed the puck to the other side for Benjamin.

"I had a similar chance in the first period, I just took too many stick handles and coach said, 'Just take the shot' and I just took it sooner the next time, it worked out," the junior Benjamin said.

From there, Hartford (13-7-3) locked down a Lakers (16-6-1) squad that has averaged nearly four goals a game and had entered the final with a 9-1 mark over its last 11 games. Colchester also tied Hartford 5-5 and won a 3-1 contest in the teams' regular-season matchups.

"We had a very specific game plan to try and stop their high-skilled guys," Bebeau said. "It wasn’t pretty, but our guys battled from start to finish."

The teams traded goals in quick succession to open the game.

From the Colchester net, Logan Caffrey fed Jaden Poirier on the doorstep, and Poirier jammed in a close-range finish past Colchester goalie Kieran Phillips. About a minute later, Colchester responded when Adam Maher's wrister from the slot slipped under the crossbar and past Hartford goalie Nunu Mayer (21 saves) with 12:46 left in the first period.

Tied at 1 after the first period, Hartford's big break came on a Colchester penalty less than four minutes into the middle frame. The Hurricanes needed just six seconds on the man advantage to strike with Benjamin's well-placed wrister.

"Special teams are so important up here," Bebeau said. "We work hard on our power play, we really do and it showed in this environment to have that much composure with the puck.

"At that point, we didn’t think two goals was going to win this game, but we just clamped it down."

With only a three-defensemen unit of Park, Tighe Hrabchak and Matt Mayes, and Mock's late wins on faceoffs, the Hurricanes didn't yield many scoring chances for the Lakers over the last period-plus. When they did, Mayer was alert to cover up rebounds and loose pucks. And after another Hartford defensive stand, Mock sealed it with a walk-in empty-netter with 11.8 seconds left.

"When you hear the name Ezra Mock, you hear about high-goal scorer, 55 points, but he did the dirty stuff tonight," Bebeau said. "He won faceoffs, he was great in the defensive zone — he has the heart of a champion. I know he’s playing injured, he just refused to let it stop him and I love the kid. He’s an incredible human being and he wears the swirl with pride."

Bebeau said he had a hunch this group would figure it out.

"A lot of these kids were in the shadows of those highly skilled teams I had in the last couple years," Bebeau said. "From Day 1 I told people, 'Wait to you see these kids shine.' And that’s exactly what they did this year."

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Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.