Big third period lifts Fairfield over Staples

For two periods, Staples-Weston-Shelton's freshman goalie Dylan Batterson did everything he could to lift his club over rival Fairfield.

But in the third, Batterson -- and the shorthanded Wreckers-- finally ran out of gas.

The Mustangs scored five goals in the third period, turning a one-goal deficit after two into a 6-2 win on Wednesday at Milford Ice Pavilion.

Sophomore Kevin Robinson and junior Dan Silvestri each scored twice and Tyler Demilt had a goal and an assist as Fairfield won for the second time in three games.

Wreckers forward Forrest Savage scored two goals as the team fell to 6-6.

But Staples -- who dressed just 10 skaters and two goaltenders-- used the combination of Batterson and Savage to build two, one-goal advantages.

Batterson twice stopped Robinson on breakaways, once in the first and again in the second.

"My hats off to the goaltender," Fairfield coach Mark Pettorini said. "But we weren't shooting to score."

"I thought he was given us a chance to win," Staples coach Ralph Unker said.

And with Fairfield on a power play, Savage gave the Wreckers the lead. The senior snuck behind the defense after Jack Mendillo cleared the puck, using his speed and beating Fairfield goalie Connor Frawley with a forehand shot to put the Wreckers up 1-0.

Silvestri's tip on Tom Kryspin's second-period point shot on the power play tied the game for Fairfield at 12:51, but just 1:16 later, Savage broke the tie with another breakaway goal, and Staples took a 2-1 advantage into the third.

But Robinson and Demilt scored two goals in the first 1:56 of the third to put Fairfield up. Robinson tipped Matt Larouche's shot to tie the game and Demilt's shot from the half-wall hand-cuffed Batterson, giving Fairfield a 3-2 advantage.

Mike Aquila's goal off a rush from the top of the circle gave Fairfield a 4-2 lead and ended Batterson's day. Jesse Burns entered, stopping five of the seven shots he faced.

"I think we just ran out of gas," Unker said. "I thought we were going to hang on defensively, but we just couldn't."

Unker credited his club, despite the rash of injuries Staples has had. The Wreckers entered down eight members, and lost two more players on Wednesday.

"We only ended with eight guys on the bench," Unker said. "We keep dropping like flies."