There were four FCIAC boys’ hockey teams – Ridgefield, Darien, New Canaan and Greenwich – in the Final 2018-19 GameTimeCT Boys Hockey Top 10 Poll which was released March 21.
The Fairfield Prep Jesuits defended their Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Division I Boys Hockey Tournament championship so they were voted No. 1 in the Final 2018-19 GameTimeCT Boys Hockey Top 10 Poll which was released March 21.
The 15-9-1 Jesuits won their Division I state championship with a 5-2 victory over Notre Dame-West Haven (13-10-1), which finished third in the state poll.
Prep, which won its 11th Division I title since 2000, received 12 of the 13 first-place votes.
Ridgefield, which got the other first-place vote, finished second in the state poll as the highest-ranked team of the four top 10 teams from the FCIAC.
Ridgefield’s Tigers finished 22-1 after being eliminated by Xavier, 3-2, in overtime in the quarterfinals of the Division I tournament.
Northwest Catholic (20-3-1) was ranked fourth.
The FCIAC had two of the top five teams as Darien was No. 5. The Blue Wave finished 17-6, eliminated by a 3-1 margin to ND-West Haven in the Division I quarterfinals.
Xavier finished 10-11-2 and ranked sixth.
New Canaan (14-8-1) finished No. 8, Branford (19-3-4) was ninth and Greenwich (11-11-2) completed the top 10. New Canaan pulled out a 2-1 overtime victory over fellow FCIAC member Greenwich in the Division I first round before the Rams were eliminated by Northwest Catholic, 1-0, in the quarterfinals.
Last year Greenwich finished 22-4 and ranked second in the state poll after its 4-2 loss to Prep in the state championship game.
Coach Shaun Gallagher’s Ridgefield’s Tigers won their third consecutive FCIAC crown with an 8-1 victory over Greenwich in this year’s FCIAC tournament championship game after they advanced with an 8-1 victory over Westhill/Stamford and Greenwich’s Cardinals won a 2-1 double-overtime thriller over Darien in the semifinals.
The state hockey pollsters are comprised of 10 media members and three coaches, including Ridgefield coach Shaun Gallagher.