A hat trick by tri-captain Kyle Jonas led the Wilton high boys hockey team to a 6-3 victory over the Norwalk/Brien McMahon combined squad on Wednesday night in Norwalk.
The game served as the second of two ALS fundraisers put together by Wilton hockey this season in recognition of Eric Craven, who was diagnosed with ALS in April of 2013. Eric Craven is the father of David, a senior on the Wilton boys team, and daughters Amanda and Elizabeth, juniors on the Wilton girls team.
Norwalk struck first at 8:08 of the first period, with Patrick Auz firing the puck past Wilton’s senior goalie Kyle Buckley from in close following a long stretch of offensive pressure by the Bears.
Jonas responded for the Warriors (7-10 overall), scoring his first goal of the game with 3:31 left in the opening period. Strong work by seniors Luke Rizzo and David Craven along the boards in the offensive zone set up the chance for Jonas, who scored on his own rebound after his initial shot was stopped. Wilton dominated play from the get-go, but the Warriors struggled to create many quality chances for most of the opening period.
After Auz scored his second of the game at 9:17 of the second period to make it 2-1 for Norwalk, Jonas answered at 7:34 to tie the game, snapping a wrist shot from the right circle past Norwalk goalie Phillip Uva. As the game went on, the Warriors began to turn their dominance into goals, scoring three more in the second period to break the game open.
First, Henry Hovland gave Wilton the lead at 6:51, sneaking a wrist shot through several bodies in front of the net past Uva. Craven and Jake Tucker made great plays prior to the goal to keep the puck in the offensive zone for the Warriors.
Jonas then completed his hat trick nearly three minutes later on the power play with a goal very similar to his second, this time shooting from the left circle. Shortly after, Ned Zawislak threw a beautiful pass from behind the goal line to the slot, where Alec Biegen was positioned to slide the puck through Uva’s legs at 3:15 of the period to make it 5-2.
Wilton played its best hockey of the night in the third, but several great saves by Bears freshman goalie Kevin Elzea, who came in to replace Uva after Biegen’s goal, kept the score reasonably close. Jonas, Craven and tri-captain Jameson Hill also all hit either the post or crossbar in the final period.
Hill finally scored with 4:22 left in the game, ripping a fast wrist shot past Elzea before Norwalk’s Jake Flewellyn got one goal back for the Bears with 3:47 left, making the final score 6-3.