Hartford, VT – Neutral Zone was at the Barwood Arena in White River Junction on Feb. 8th for the Missisquoi Valley at Hartford matchup. The highlight of the evening was Hartford’s senior forward Ozzy DeFelice (#16) scoring his 100th point as a Hurricane. This milestone is quite an accomplishment for any high school hockey player and the hometown crowd cheered Ozzy as he excitedly celebrated with his teammates. Way to go Ozzy!!
In the first period, Hartford pressured Missisquoi early and often.They dominated play with some terrific offensive zone passing and peppered Missisquoi goalie Ethan Stefaniak (#30) with 19 shots on goal. Hartford got two goals from DeFelice and a third from senior captain Joseph Barwood (#19). Assists on DeFelice’s goals went to his linemates Blaine Gour (#2) and James McReynolds (#15). Likewise, Barwood’s linemates Nolan Morlock (#7) passed the puck to Junior center Ezra Mock (#10) who made a beautiful cross ice pass for a one timer by Barwood. The period ended with Hartford up 3-0.
Hartford lite the lamp three more times in the second period on goals by senior defenseman Connor Tierney (#24), Erza Mock (#10), and sophomore Nick Daniels (#6). Missisquoi got on the scoreboard later in the period when senior forward Camden Bertrand (#22) received a nice pass from sophomore defenseman AJ Dennet (#16) to beat Hartford goalie Davey Bradley (#30). Shots on goals after two periods were 36-7 in Hartford’s favor.
Hartford continued to put pressure on Missisquoi goalie Stefaniak but he was tremendous between the pipes. Although Hartford scored two more times in the third, Stefaniak ended the game with 42 saves on 50 shots on goal, a great performance on his part. Barwood got his second goal of the evening and McReynolds finished the scoring for Hartford with the assist going to Gour and DeFelice. Missisquoi got their second goal late in the period from Owen Kane (#18) with assist from Dennet and Justin Farnham (#21), making the final score 8-2.
1st Star: Ozzy DeFelice (#16) Hartford
2nd Star: Ezra Mock (#10) Hartford
3rd Star: Ethan Stefaniak (#30) Missisquoi