On Saturday night, the Darien Blue Wave boys ice hockey team welcomed in Rhode Island powerhouse Warwick Co-op for a battle inside the Ice House. This was the first all-time meeting between the Wave (4-0-1) and Warwick (4-3-0).

An early penalty was called against Elliot Lancaster, and the Wave saw Warwick go on the power play just 30 seconds in. Luckily for Darien, the junior goaltender Quinn Kreppein would turn away Co-op and kill off the power play by making countless great saves.

The first 13 minutes were a defensive battle, with neither goaltender giving in.

2:05 on the clock in the first period, faceoff in the Warwick offensive zone, to the left of Kreppein. The faceoff was won by Warwick, a quick shot on the net was stopped by Kreppein, but he fumbled on the cover. Leaving the puck open for the Rhode Island senior Brady Martin to gain control and punch it past Kreppein for the score. This was Brady’s first goal on the season, and it put Warwick up 1-0 into the first intermission.

The start of the second period was no different as Kreppein and Braxton Bragg would continue to protect their respective nets.

With 4:30 left in the 2nd period, the puck was trickling around in the neutral zone. It was grabbed by the Wave senior Chris Davis. Davis would use a toe drag and fight off the push from Warwick’s Gerard Schfino leaving Chris with a one-on-one with the goalie Bragg. Going right should high, Davis, rocketed the puck to the back of the net for the Wave score.

Chris had a big goal in the tying effort against Fairfield co-op the game prior and scored his third goal on the season with this one.

Warwick’s head coach Mike Boyajian would get the troops rallied in the tied game, and just four minutes later, Co-op was knocking on the doorstep yet again.

A nice stop by Bragg transitioned the puck the other way with a surging Warwick offense. An offense that had been outshot and killed in the time of possession in the period.

Ryan Barlow got the puck off the boards to his teammate Rich Cavanagh. Cavanagh wiffed on the shot but grabbed it and tried again. This time a shot off his stick went near  side and just over the left shoulder of Kreppein. Cavanagh had struck giving Warwick the 2-1 lead just seconds before the end of the period. Cavanagh is a dynamic player for the Warwick squad scoring his 5th goal of the season.

As the buzzer rang in the second period, things got chippy between Darien’s Tyler Reckin and Warwick’s Rich Cavanagh. Spiraling into some extracurriculars after the buzzer. The refs assessed the situation and handed Reckin and Cavanagh the 4-minute double minor penalties for roughing as well as 2-minute minor penalties to Warwick’s Lucas Hemond and Charlie Clements for cross-checking. Meaning Darien would start the third period on a 5-on-3 advantage.

With momentum and numbers on their side, Mac Budd’s team trotted back onto the ice in the third period. Braxton Bragg would prevail and kill off the power play for Darien. Darien panicked with the shots and took some long-distance shots that didn’t lead to good offense.

With time slowly ticking away, the chances of Darien coming back were getting slim. Bragg was untouchable in the net and the Wave found themselves on the defense for most of the period.

2:30 left in regulation, a Warwick push would be a turnover to Lancaster, who sent a through pass to Chris Davis, who broke the coverage and went straight to Bragg in net. Making a nice move and going to the left side, Davis stuck another good shot for the goal beating Bragg for the second time on the night. A huge momentum gainer for the Wave when the period was not looking too great.

Davis had tied the game up at 2 a piece and watched as that was the score at the end of regulation.

As eight more minutes were put up on the scoreboard for the overtime, it was a golden goal for the next score. Knowing this, Kreppein and Bragg tighten up in net, and both made numerous saves in the period forcing the eight-minute stalemate.

As the final buzzer rang, Darien and Warwick co-op would both be picking up points in the 2-2 tie. Both goalies shined in the overtime period and kept the offenses at bay.

This was the outcome that head coaches Mac Budd and Mike Boyajian were looking for when they scheduled this inaugural meeting. A well-played, evenly-matched contest.

For Darien, they tie their second match in a row putting them at 4-0-2 on the season, and still winless against an out-of-state team since records date in 2004.

As for Warwick, they fell to 4-3-1 on the season and had a much better showing than their first time in the Nutmeg State, a 7-1 loss at the hands of Notre Dame West Haven.

Darien will take back to the ice on Wednesday, January 11th, for a showdown with arch-rival New Canaan inside the Darien Ice House at 4:10 pm.

The Wave will also have to keep their out-of-state competition waiting until February 4th-5th when the Wave travels to the Ocean State for a doubleheader with Bishop Hendricken (Providence) and La Salle Academy (Warwick), both of which are teams the Wave fell to in 2022.

WARWICK CO-OP 1 1 0 0 — 2

DARIEN 0 1 1 0 — 2

Goals:

W – Brady Martin (O’Dea) 1st, 13:00;

D – Chris Davis (Tarrant) 2nd, 10:40;

W – Rich Cavanagh (Barlow) 2nd 14:31

D – Chris Daivs (Unassisted) 3rd, 12:40;

Goalkeepers: W – Braxton Bragg 30 saves; D – Quinn Kreppein 27 saves.

Records: Warwick Co-op 4-3-1 (3-2 RIIL); Darien 4-0-2 (0-0 FCIAC)