Mountaineers Move up a Notch For Hockey Finals

FALLS VILLAGE— The Housatonic Mountaineers ice hockey team’s season came to a close at DiLungo Rink in East Haven Tuesday night with a first-round Division ll tournament loss, 12-1, against East Haven.

Housy’s goal came on a shot from the blue line by Ben Lancto and tipped by Chris Bellanca.

East Haven, a Division I team playing in the Division II bracket, had a much deeper bench, according to Housy coach Dean Diamond.

"We played hard and were only down 3-1 after the first, but they just outskated us.

"But our guys kept at it right until the end."

Housy finishes the season at 11-9-1 after going winless last year.

Although the finale was disappointing, the fact remains that the Mountaineers enjoyed a remarkable turnaround from the previous season — so remarkable, in fact, that their top ranking in Division III put them into Division II (albeit at the bottom of the seedings).

This development could have been viewed as bad news — as the top seed in Division III the Mountaineers would have had a first-round bye.

But the team chose to be flattered. Diamond told his players at practice Monday that they should be proud of their season. "I told them, look at it this way — the people who make these decisions think we’re good enough to be considered Division II."

Diamond hopes that Housy hockey can build on the success of the ’06-’07 season. "Look at it — we won the Berkshire Cup, we made it into Division II. It shows how far we can go.

"Maybe some kids will start thinking about playing hockey at Housy instead of a private school."