Agawam Chiefs Mite 2s Win Reading Holiday Tournament

The Agawam Chiefs Mite 2s topped the Mid Fairfield Connecticut Yankees 4-0 on Saturday to win the championship for their division at the 2012 Dana Hennigar Memorial Mite Tournament in Reading.

The Chiefs went undefeated in the tournament; beating Reading 4-2, Mid Fairfield 5-3 and Masco 4-1 on the way to their championship faceoff with Mid Fairfield.

Sam Phippin opened the scoring at 10:05 of the first period with what proved to be the game winner with assists to Bodin Jobe and Quinn Brady. With the period winding down goalie Matthew Cusolito turned aside a Mid Fairfield breakaway bid to even the score. Coleman Connors quickly started a Chiefs counterattack that ended with Phippin pouncing on a Zach Walles’ rebound to make it 2-0 with 48 seconds left in the period.

The Chiefs went ahead 3-0 at 7:47 of the second period when Finn Russell snapped a shot from the right circle with assists going to Brady and Aidan Clarke. Walles pushed the lead to 4-0 at 6:23 of the second netting a hard shot from the slot with assists to linemates Phippin and Jobe.

The third period featured exciting action as the Mid Fairfield skaters pressed to cut the Chiefs’ lead. Cusolito was airtight in goal and Agawam’s strong defensive pairing of Sam York and Colby Doane broke up several Yankee rushes. Forwards Cooper Davis and Evan Haughey sparked the Chiefs offense with their hustling play in the Yankee’s end. Clarke and Connors made standout defensive plays to stymie goal-scoring chances and help seal the Chiefs’ shutout victory for Coaches Connors, Clarke and Jobe.

During their four-game road to the title the Chiefs outscored their opponents 17-6 with strong two-way hockey and teamwork. Goals from Sam Phippin (6), Zach Walles (5) and one each for Quinn Brady, Aidan Clarke, Coleman Connors, Bodin Jobe, Nate Jones and Finn Russell fueled the Chiefs offense. The Chiefs tight defense was led by skaters Cooper Davis, Colby Doane, Peter Gillis, Evan Haughey and Sam York, and goalies Matthew Cusolito (2 wins), Sam Phippin and Zach Walles.