Amity Hockey Coach Gary Lindgren couldn’t be prouder of his team. After the Thursday Feb. 7, 2-1 win against Cheshire, he was smiling and happy to talk about everything that the Spartans accomplished.
Not only did they play a great game, but they also gave back to a family that needs a bit of help right now.
“It was a special night for the Martino family. It was great, we could honor them and support them as best as we could, raising some money — it was really nice for our program,” Lindgren said. (The Martino family of Orange lost their home and all of their possessions in a house fire on Jan. 21. They escaped with their lives and the clothes on their backs.) “It was nice to do this benefit game for them, and it was nice to get the victory.”
The game started off quickly with Amity’s Brett McNeil scoring the first goal assisted by John Crocker and Adam Shea in the first 35 seconds of the first period.
In the second period, McNeil forged Amity ahead with a second goal, assisted by Johnny Uscilla and Shea at 2:41; and then Cheshire’s Sean Richard, assisted by Nick Vaill scored his team’s one and only goal at 12:33. But the Rams never did get to best the Spartans.
Lindgren said, “It was a hard fought game. They’re a division 1 team, Cheshire is well coached, I have so much respect for them for the way they play and the respect they have on the ice and off the ice — Love playing Cheshire — the kids, the coaches, they do a great job. It’s one of my favorite teams.
“We got a nice lead with two goals, Brett McNeil scored both of them from Adam Shea and Johnny Crocker and Johnny Uscilla, but those two goals stood and Nick Nuzzolo was tremendous once again tonight,” Lindgren said. “He was so sound, so consistent, he’s our backbone, he’s our strength, his composure is unbelievable.
“Our defense out in the ground, we played tough, we got it out, it was a nice win for us,” he said. “We got some breaks too, we got away with some mistakes, we had our chances and we held up.”
Lindgren said his team finished their Division 1 schedule 5-1 and earned more points. And the Spartans are No. 1 in Division 2.
Amity outshot Cheshire 36-30.
Spartans goalie Nick Nuzzolo made 29 saves and the Rams goal tender Scott Romano made 34 saves.
Records: Amity 11-3; Cheshire 3-11
facebook 
twitter 
email 