Housy Hockey Pulls It Together This Year


FALLS VILLAGE — The Housatonic Northwestern Mountaineers hockey team, winless last year, improved to 4-1 on the season, defeating Enfield at Rudd Rink at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville on Friday evening (Dec. 29), 4-2.

Forward Chris Bellanca scored all four Mountaineer goals while a fellow sophomore, goalie Kevin Diamond, kept the game out of reach with several clutch third period saves.

"We played well as a team," said head coach Dean Diamond (father of Kevin). "There are no attitudes out there."

Enfield played tough throughout, taking a 2-2 tie into the third period. With both teams frustrated by dominant goalkeeping, the game seemed destined for overtime until Bellanca’s redirect with 3:42 remaining gave him the hat trick, and his team the 3-2 lead. Bellanca added an empty net goal with 28.6 seconds left in the game to seal the victory.

While he is undersized in goal, Kevin (whose brother Ryan is a senior forward on the team) is making a huge impact. The net-minder recorded consecutive shut outs against his first two opponents, Guilford and Shepaug-Litchfield-Wamogo, and despite letting up two early goals in Friday’s game, Diamond shut down the Enfield attack in the second and third periods.

The Mountaineers’ recent success has come as a surprise to everyone except Coach Diamond, who assumed head coaching duties last season.

"Last year we played tough every game. We lost seven one-goal games and five two-goal games," Diamond said. "Our shots were just an inch wide or an inch high. This year we’re right on."

Diamond credits team chemistry for Housatonic Northwestern’s hot start. For the first time in school history, the team participated in several preseason events, allowing the players to bond as a cohesive unit.

"Most teams start from August on and we used to be coming in, and in two weeks we’d be playing games. We just weren’t ready," Diamond said. "This year, seven or eight of the kids got to play together in the preseason."

The Mountaineers hope to continue their winning ways at home against Avon-St. Paul Jan. 5. Coach Diamond expects a challenge.

"They’re a tough team. They’re with us at the top of the division," he said. "They’re a good team and they’ll be tough to beat."

Latest News

Housatonic softball beats Webutuck 16-3

Haley Leonard and Khyra McClennon looked on as HVRHS pulled ahead of Webutuck, May 2.

Riley Klein

FALLS VILLAGE — The battle for the border between Housatonic Valley Regional High School and Webutuck High School Thursday, May 2, was won by HVRHS with a score of 16-3.

The New Yorkers played their Connecticut counterparts close early on and commanded the lead in the second inning. Errors plagued the Webutuck Warriors as the game went on, while the HVRHS Mountaineers stayed disciplined and finished strong.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mountaineers fall 3-0 to Wamogo

Anthony Foley caught Chase Ciccarelli in a rundown when HVRHS played Wamogo Wednesday, May 1.

Riley Klein

LITCHFIELD — Housatonic Valley Regional High School varsity baseball dropped a 3-0 decision to Wamogo Regional High School Wednesday, May 1.

The Warriors kept errors to a minimum and held the Mountaineers scoreless through seven innings. HVRHS freshman pitcher Chris Race started the game strong with no hits through the first three innings, but hiccups in the fourth gave Wamogo a lead that could not be caught.

Keep ReadingShow less
The artist called ransome

‘Migration Collage' by ransome

Alexander Wilburn

If you claim a single sobriquet as your artistic moniker, you’re already in a club with some big names, from Zendaya to Beyoncé to the mysterious Banksy. At Geary, the contemporary art gallery in Millerton founded by New Yorkers Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, a new installation and painting exhibition titled “The Bitter and the Sweet” showcases the work of the artist known only as ransome — all lowercase, like the nom de plume of the late Black American social critic bell hooks.

Currently based in Rhinebeck, N.Y., ransome’s work looks farther South and farther back — to The Great Migration, when Jim Crow laws, racial segregation, and the public violence of lynching paved the way for over six million Black Americans to seek haven in northern cities, particularly New York urban areas, like Brooklyn and Baltimore. The Great Migration took place from the turn of the 20th century up through the 1970s, and ransome’s own life is a reflection of the final wave — born in North Carolina, he found a new home in his youth in New Jersey.

Keep ReadingShow less
Four Brothers ready for summer season

Hospitality, ease of living and just plain fun are rolled into one for those who are intrigued by the leisure-time Caravana experience at the family-owned Four Brothers Drive-in in Amenia. John Stefanopoulos, pictured above, highlights fun possibilities offered by Hotel Caravana.

Leila Hawken

The month-long process of unwrapping and preparing the various features at the Four Brothers Drive-In is nearing completion, and the imaginative recreational destination will be ready to open for the season on Friday, May 10.

The drive-in theater is already open, as is the Snack Shack, and the rest of the recreational features are activating one by one, soon to be offering maximum fun for the whole family.

Keep ReadingShow less