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2005-2006
Overall Record
Program Honors:
Season in Review: Varsity Regular Season:
In its first season within the Connecticut High School Hockey Division I ranks, the Xavier Falcons started the season with a solid 5-1 victory over the perennial rival Cheshire Rams and then followed it up with a strong 3-2 overtime victory over a tough Conard team. The overtime victory proved to be a prelude of things to come as the Falcons went on to tie their next two games against Lyman Hall and Wethersfield, closing out the month of December with a 2-0-2 record. The 3 overtime games in December was only the beginning of a very challenging, hard fought campaign for the Falcons as they eventually ended the season with 7 overtime games going 3-1-3 overall.
In January, Xavier posted an overall record of 3-4 winning their first ever Bishop's Cup with a strong 12-1 victory over St. Bernards before closing out the month with an exciting 3-2 overtime victory against DI powerhouse Immaculate of Danbury. Sophomore Kevin O'Hara proved to be the offensive hero for the team to this point in the season; netting the overtime winner in the Immaculate game and totaling 12 goals in 12 games.
The Falcons picked up in February right where they left off with a very exciting divisional victory over Daniel Hand of Madison. Down 2-1 in the closing minutes of play Kevin O'Hara scored an electrifying shorthanded goal at the two minute mark that was followed up by an explosive, crowd pleasing, shorthanded goal from Senior Co-Captain Aaron Fredericks at the 1:25 mark of the overtime period. This was seen by the hundreds of home town fans in attendance at Wesleyan's Spurrier-Snyder Rink as the turning point in the Falcons' season as they headed into the toughest part of their schedule against some of the strongest DI powerhouse teams in the state.
The 2006 squad finished the regular season in late February with a strong 7-1-1 record, earning impressive wins over East Haven, North Haven, Branford and East Catholic. No victory in the 2006 season was bigger than the one against the then number 1 team in the state, two time defending Division I Champions; Fairfield Prep. The coaching staff designed a defensive minded game plan that frustrated Prep, while Freshman standout goalie Tyler Reid confidently stopped 41 of 42 shots to seal this monumental win. Senior workhorse Reid Cote broke open the Falcons scoring with an even-strength goal at the 12:31 mark of the first period taking a beautiful outlet pass from Junior defenseman David Raczka and scoring a goal scorers goal high to the tenders glove side. Charlie Walsh buried the game winner early in the second period on a power play goal. From there it was solid team defense coming from the defensive corps of Walsh, Raczka, Seniors Mike Kurys, tripp Austin and Juniors Mike Delbuono and Kevin Farrington. Aaron Fredericks sealed the biggest win in the history of the 6 year program with an empty net tally with 1:50 left in the game to begin the celebration and also to let the state know the Falcons should not be taken lightly as they headed into the CIAC Division I Tournament.
Xavier closed out the regular season with strong wins posted by Freshman goaltender Zach Gosselin over East Catholic and Cheshire, and a hotly-contested tie with divisional rival West Haven behind Senior goaltender Garreck Seales on the Falcons' Senior Night.
The 2005-2006 Falcons ended up 4th out of 8 teams in the competitively tough SCC Division I Conference while being unanimously awarded by the opposing coaches the Southern Connecticut Coast Division I Conference Dick Gagliardi Team Sportsmanship Award.
State Tournament:
Because of the neutral site rule for all quarterfinal games, Xavier headed to Yale's Ingalls Rink for their Quarter finals match-up against number one seeded Hamden. After having a Xavier goal disallowed in the opening minute of the game due to a high-stick, Hamden struck first with a goal coming at the 10 minute mark of the first period. Tyler Reid and the defensive corps held strong for the remainder of the first period turning away 12 of 13 shots while also denying any quality second chances. The second period again looked to be tilted Hamden's way as they continued their relentless pursuit of their second goal with numerous quality shots on net. But the tables would turn in the closing minutes of the period when Chris Clancy took the game in hand and scored two crowd shocking goals at the 1:17 mark and then 27 seconds later at the :50 second mark giving Xavier a 2-1 lead heading into the 3rd. The Falcons played stellar defense for the first half of the 3rd period denying some quality opportunities dished out by the frantic Green Dragons. It looked as if another upset was in the making for the 2006 Falcons, but Hamden struck a blow with 8 minutes to go that tied the game at 2. Then at the 6:11 mark a hooking penalty put the Falcons a man down and the Green Dragons capitalized with a power play goal with 5:43 seconds left in the game. The Falcons still refused to quit and put some high quality scoring opportunities on net right up until an empty net goal sealed the victory for the Green Dragons at the 17 second mark. Many of the serious high school hockey fans in attendance that game thought the Xavier Falcons were set to pull off one of the biggest upsets in the tournament and saw a team that has a bright future in Connecticut High School hockey.
JV Season: The season long work ethic and game performances from all of the JV players proved itself out as the Falcons won the 2nd annual JV Cup competition sweeping games against tri-Town, Southington and Manchester. Freshman goaltender Ryan Lee was awarded MVP of that contest posting 3 shutouts. Lead by head coach Dan DeConti, the JV program continues to prove to be an important component of the overall program's success both now and into the future as it will always to be looked upon as the main feeder system to the varsity squad. Expectations within this program are even greater now as we continue to match up against the very toughest Division I teams within the state of Connecticut.
Future: head Coach Kevin O'Leary and assistants Steve Kuczynski, Dean Fredericks, Dan DeiConti and Paul Stone are looking forward to welcoming the large number of returning and incoming players in November with the expectation that they will be ready to not just compete, but dominate their place within Connecticut High School Division I competition.
2005/2006 Individual Honors:Charlie Walsh (Defense)
Tyler Reid (Goaltender)
Aaron Fredericks (Forward)
Darren Tallie (Forward)
Ryan Lee (Goaltender)
Team Awards:
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