Less than 24 hours prior to taking the ice in the Southern Connecticut Conference Division II Championship, the Hand boys' hockey team saw firsthand how quickly a game can change. In the semifinals against Guilford, the Tigers watched a late two-goal lead evaporate so it should have come as no surprise that the Tigers never gave up in the final despite trailing Branford by three late in the final period.

Hand nearly pulled out a comeback for the ages in the SCC DII Championship on March 3 at Bennett Ice Rink in West Haven. Trailing 4-1 with only 12 minutes remaining, the top-seeded Tigers roared to life, scoring three unanswered goals and forcing an extra period. However, it was the third-seeded Hornets-which Hand had beaten twice during the regular season-who showed that momentum can be fickle for as quickly as it shifted to Hand's side, the momentum jumped ship back Branford's way as freshman Tyler Hackett's overtime goal sent the Tigers home with a 5-4 loss and ended their chance at back-to-back SCC titles.

"We knew it was going to be a lot closer than those two [regular-season wins] indicated," said Hand Coach Brian Courtmanche. "Unfortunately, we didn't come to play until the third period and it was too little too late. We definitely had chances to win it, but if you don't play for two whole periods, it makes it very hard."

The Tigers got down early, trailing 3-0 before freshman center Ben Solin (1 goal and 2 assists) took a pass from Mitch Brown and sent a wrister over the glove of Hornets' freshman goalie Alex Sarno, cutting the lead to 3-1 in the closing minutes of the second period.

Leading 3-1 heading into the third period, it appeared the Hornets (13-9) had kicked things into autopilot and were going to cruise to the title when enior forward Rob Celentano took a pass from Austin Hackett and scored, extending Branford's lead to 4-1 a mere 12 seconds into the period.

Hand (13-7-2) looked flat and out of sync in the first two periods and the opening minutes of the third. The Tigers' passing wasn't crisp, and even when they had chances, they weren't capitalizing. Hand's Brown finally broke through, collecting a rebound, sliding across the low slot, and sending a wrister to the top shelf past Sarno, cutting the lead to 4-2 with 11:56 to play.

"We knew as seniors this was our last time playing in SCC's; we knew we had to step it up," Brown said. "We were embarrassed, quite frankly, being on the ice and I couldn't deal with having our whole fan section there and not stepping up and doing something."

Even after Brown's tally, Branford still maintained control of the game. The Hornets made what should have been a costly error, drawing two penalties in the same Hand possession and giving the Tigers a full two minutes of 5-on-3 with just inside 11 minutes left, but the Hornets' penalty kill stood strong, allowing only two shots on net and killing the Tiger advantage while holding on tightly to its two-goal lead.

"In the end it is going to kill us-we don't get a lot of power-play opportunities, you can't waste a 5-on-3," Courtmanche said. "Then we had another 5-on-4 and we didn't get much out of either one. We just couldn't get ourselves to relax and set up. We tried to rush it too much, and in the end, if we are going to go anywhere in the next two weeks we can't keep wasting those chances."

With just over five minutes left in regulation, the Tigers finally arose as Joe Deane sent a pass across the crease right to a crashing Brown, who tipped in the shot, pulling Hand within one at 4-3 at the 9:41 mark.

After two-and-a-half periods it seemed it was a foregone conclusion that Branford would prevail, yet after Hand's third-period rally, the script flipped and it was only a matter of time before the Tigers knotted things up. With 2:18 to play, Hand found its equalizer when sophomore Dan Healey sent a backhand shot over a diving Sarno, tying the game at 4-4 and forcing overtime.

"I just think we didn't come out and play today until the third period," said Brown. "Until the last 10 minutes of the third period, we didn't come and skate. We thought because of those two [regular-season] wins we were going to come in and win; that was our mindset. We prepared hard, but we just didn't come out and execute."

In the extra period, it was the steady calmness of the young Hornets that resulted in the game's biggest play. Junior defenseman Rob Petrillo made a perfect pass to freshman forward Tyler Hackett, who was flying down the right boards. With 2:33 to play, Hackett got the corner on the Hand defense, beating the Tigers' keeper Dan Tagliarini (19 saves) top shelf and sending the Hornets home as champions.

Though it was Hackett who came up the biggest in the game's biggest moment, had Hand's play in the first two-and-a-half periods been up to par, the game might have had a different outcome.

"[Solin] got us going, that is for sure. The first goal, then he created one of the last ones," Courtmanche said. "That is what is tough; with all the seniors we have, we are banking on one of those guys stepping forward to lead us and then you got a freshman who really gives us the spark. He has done that for us a lot down the stretch, but sooner or later it is going to have to be one of the older guys."

Hand outshot Branford 29-24 in the game, yet all that mattered was the SCC hardware went Branford and not back to Madison.

"Personally, I actually think this is a good thing for us, losing now, obviously, and not next week, it gets it out of the way," said Brown who had two goals and an assist. "Beating a team four times is almost impossible so getting it out of the way now helps us prepare and correct that stuff for next week [at the state tournament]."

Hand may actually get a chance at revenge versus Branford for if the Hornets won their first game in states this week, they would again face the Tigers at Northford Ice Pavilion on Friday, March 9.

The night prior to losing to Branford, the Tigers took on their cross-town rival Guilford Indians in the semifinal round. Solin set up senior forward Dematteo for a first-period goal, giving Hand a 1-0 lead it would maintain for the next 35 minutes. With 9:08 to play in the third, Deane extended the Tigers' lead to 2-0 by sending a wrist shot to the top shelf and beating Guilford netminder Chad Faulkner-Filosa.

But in typical Hand and Guilford fashion, nothing came easy. In a physical battle that saw 11 total penalties called, the Indians mounted a late rally, tying the game at 2-2 with 4:35 left. It appeared the contest was destined for overtime before Guilford turned the puck over in its own zone with only seconds to play. Mike Deane stole the poor clearing attempt, found Joe Deane, who picked his spot and fired a shot past Faulkner-Filosa with 15 seconds left to give the Tigers the win and a chance at their second straight SCC DII title.

"It was a rush, it was nuts, it was the best thing I have ever done," said Joe Deane.