The final game of the season turned out to be the most frustrating for the Joel
Barlow/Weston/Abbott Tech (JBWA) hockey team as it entered the state Division III tournament
last week.
The 13th-seeded Knights were in for a rough time when they faced fourth-seeded Masuk in the
opening round on March 4. Despite having beaten the same opponent in a 2-1
decision earlier in the season they struggled at both ends of the ice in a 7-0 loss at the Sports
Center of Connecticut in Shelton.
It was JBWA’s most lopsided loss of the season and only the third time it had been shut out.
“They just wheeled and we couldn’t do anything about it,” said JBWA head coach Bob Stearns.
“They were on fire tonight and it was impressive to watch them play.”
The defending Division III champs, the Panthers wasted little time in taking control of the action.
Less than three minutes into the first period Masuk center Nick Kondub got his team on the
board, taking a pass from his brother Luke from behind the goal and sending it past Knight
goalie Connor Thomas for a 1-0 lead.
The Kondub brothers struck again with 5:22 left in the frame with Nick scoring and Luke getting
the assist. The former was a menace on the ice the whole night, scoring four more goals and
getting one assist before the game was done.
“They’re quality hockey players and they’re good kids,” said Stearns. “I’m glad one of them is
graduating. We won’t have to deal with him next year.”
Just 37 seconds later, Nick Kondub completed his first hat trick, this time scoring off a pass from
Christian Labella to make it 3-0. While the Knights then called a time-out in an attempt to settle
down and regroup it did little to stop the onslaught, as Masuk scored once again before the
period ended.
With 3:31 to go, a save by Thomas denied Kondub the goal but he was credited with the assist
when Chase DeSanto took the rebound of the initial shot and scored to give the Panthers a
four-goal lead.
“It was a tough night for Connor,” said Stearns. “They were going hard at him because they
know they have to in order to beat him. They got a couple of good goals by him and it all
unraveled.”
The Knights managed a number of shots as the second period got underway but were denied
by Panther goalie Maddex LaFountain. Masuk, however, made it 5-0 with 7:37 left when
Kondub scored with Labella again getting the assist.
Due to penalties, the Panthers were down two players for a brief time in the second period but
still kept the Knights from scoring. Penalties for tripping and hooking also put the Knights down
two players with less than two minutes to go and Kondub again scored, this time with Ryan
Ewald assisting.
Three and a half minutes into the third period Kondub netted his team’s final goal. After getting
the puck from LaBella, he went one-on-one with Tyler Warcik, who was now in goal for the
Knights, and slipped it past him to finalize the score.
Masuk was called for several penalties in the time remaining but killed each to preserve the
shutout.
Despite the lopsided score, Masuk just held a 25-21 advantage in shots on goal. Thomas made
18 shots in goal for JBWA.
JBWA finishes the season at 8-13 overall.
