Young Norwalk hockey team gaining experience

DARIEN -- On the surface, it might look difficult to find a bright spot in the season-opening 9-1 loss the Norwalk/ Brien McMahon high school boys' hockey team suffered. But that setback to the Fairfield Ludlowe/ Warde co-op team, at Darien Ice Rink on Monday night, wasn't all about the ugly end result.

The Bears, as lopsided as the final tally may have been, had one strong period of hockey to try to build from as the season unfolds.

Norwalk, down 4-0 after one period, matched the Fairfield squad on the scoreboard -- each team scored once -- and dictated the flow of play at times in the second period.

Norwalk Coach Dan Feighan said the Bears did a nice job of getting the puck deep and playing the body in that middle period.

"We were finishing our checks -- that was a big part of it," the coach said of that 15 game minutes of success.

"We won the period and we worked great all around," senior captain Alex Lengyel added. "We definitely want to repeat that second period throughout all of our games."

But the Bears know they will have to repeat that second period performance in not only future middle periods but also in the first and third periods of future games if they are going to have success.

Feighan said the team needs to continue to get the puck deep, finish checks and skate hard.

"Winning little battles can help you win the war," he said.

In the season-opening game, Fairfield won a majority of those little battles and jumped out to commanding 5-0 lead before the Bears got on the score sheet when Davis Weeks scored an unassisted goal. In the third period, Fairfield recaptured that early-game dominance to pull away against an extremely young Norwalk team.

"It's very hard for our guys not to get frustrated when they're losing by a handful of goals," Feighan said.

Sophomore Richie Henderson made his first varsity start and came away with 50-plus saves as he was peppered with shots in his debut. "It was a learning experience for him," the coach said. "Once he got settled in he played phenomenal."

Henderson isn't the only inexperienced player on the ice -- far from it. Lengyel is the lone senior on the roster, which includes just three juniors -- and the rest freshmen and sophomores. In addition to that second period bright spot, the team's youth and the fact that this was the first game are other positives for the Bears.

"We're looking for a bright future," said Feighan, who has been a member of the coaching staff for a handful of years but is a first-year head coach with the Bears.

The success of the future -- as in seasons to come for the underclassmen -- hinges on strides made in the present. Feighan hopes his team continues to play hard and gains experience as the season unfolds. A Division III team, Norwalk plays a mix of D-I, II and III teams in the FCIAC.

The Bears will visit Trumbull on Saturday and will host Westhill on Jan. 6. On Feb 3, the Bears will get an opportunity to see just how much they've improved in a rematch with Fairfield.

"We'd like to be a lot more competitive with teams that are in higher divisions and we want to beat Division III teams," the coach said. "We want to be more competitive than we have been."