The East Haven Co-op Hockey team is gearing up for the home stretch of their season, as they look to take on a Division II team next in their first round of the postseason. Their main goal is to make it to the state championship game again this season. Among them are three Morgan students who are committed to the East Haven team, making the trip to Patsy DiLungo Ice Rink every day to practice, Braedan Steahle, Benjamin Brown, and Zachary Veins.
Last season, East Haven fell short in the D2 state championship held at Quinnipiac University to Cheshire, a D2 school. East Haven had a hard time right from the first puck drop. From the start of the game, East Haven struggled to set the tone of the game and their pace of play, leading to frantic play. East Haven was down 4–0 the majority of the game. In the last five minutes of the game, they changed their mindset, charging back, acclimated finally to the game, losing by three against Cheshire, 6-3.
This year, East Haven has changed the narrative from the start of the season, focusing on their offensive side of the puck as a key to their success. East Haven averages three goals a game this season, and that has made them successful facing tough teams like Cheshire and Amity. Both teams have a solid roster with many talented players. Cheshire ended their regular season this year with a 15-4 record. The Amity season has not ended but with three more games to go their record is currently 11-4-2. Key players on both teams have carried their way through the season but Amity tied with East Haven 3-3 and Cheshire lost to East Haven by 1 with the score being 5-4.
Since East Haven graduated several key players last year, such as their stand-out goalie, Michael Fritz, from Sheehan, they had to find new ways to succeed, through trust. Morgan players believe their early success helped as East Haven started the season with four straight wins to Suffield (7-1), Glastonbury (6-2), Cheshire (5-4) and Branford (5-1).
It has not all been easy, though. East Haven has two losses this year to New Milford and North Haven that has shaped the season. But the team plans to learn from the experience. “We underestimated while preparing for those two games specifically, which made us work. It showed us that we have to work harder, and we have improved from these games and their type of play,” said sophomore, Benjamin Brown.
“Working hard during practice and using our game efficiency is the reason behind our success this year,” said Brown.
Second string defensive player Benjamin Brown, a sophomore here at Morgan, has earned his time in the game through his dedication and commitment to working hard. Brown has been a part of the team since he was a freshman. Brown has been a part of many teams, such as the Yale youth hockey team. As Brown gained more experience with the East Haven team, he earned more minutes with his defensive mindset of the game, and that has led his team to success in front of their goalie.
This season Brown has stepped up to be one of the first subs off the bench for a starter and has filled many shoes making him a stand-out defensive player. Throughout the season, Brown has drawn inspiration from older teammates like junior Preston Cantele. Brown did not dress varsity for his first game of his career, and Cantele gave him motivation to keep his head up to meet his goals. Brown first hit the ice when he was five years old, and since then a lot of hard work and powerful drive got him to the player he is today.
As Morgan, East Haven, Sheehan and Lyme Old Lyme high schools combine to create success as their record holds at 17-2-1. A key senior player to the team that is a captain from Sheeheen, Lorenzo Defilio has achieved scoring 100 career goals this season, which has made him a stand-out player, and he has shared his desire on the ice with his teammates.
As head coach, Lou Pane reached 500 career wins this season. Pane has been a coach for several years and has made this team strong and dedicated to hockey in many ways from his experiences and oppertunites. Junior Zachary Viens feels this achievement for Pane has been positive for their team, and they want to keep the intensity up walking into the postseason. 
For Brown, playing on the co-op team has come with both benefits and difficulties. “The biggest struggle for being on a co-op team is Morgan not providing a bus to practice,” said Morgan athletes juniors Braedan Steahle and Zachary Viens and sophomore Benjamin Brown. However, the positives outweigh the negatives. Brown likes it because it gives him the advantage to work with different schools and come together to build a strong bond out of academics.
Brown also enjoys team-bonding. Since many of the players don’t go to school together, outside of winter, East Haven does a lot of team bonding to expand their team chemistry. They schedule many workouts such as lifting in preparation for the upcoming season. As well as having various fundraisers such as car washes to make money for their team gear.
East Haven now faces postseason March 11th. They have lots of anticipation to get to where they were last year at the state finals played at Quinnipiac University on March 23rd.
