By Andy Hutchison

NEW MILFORD — No points for the standings, but if moral victories count for something then the Staples High hockey team earned something notable on Wednesday night.

The Wreckers erased a two-goal deficit in the third period to force overtime before falling 4-3 to New Milford at Canterbury School’s O’Neil Arena.

Down 3-1, the Wreckers evened the score on goals by Derek Wolgast and Tyler DiMaio, with DiMaio’s tally coming in the final two minutes of regulation.

Jacob Gomez scored in the first period. Nikos Ninios had a pair of assists, setting up both of the third period tallies. Jacob Serfaty, Wolgast, Levi Nevstad and Harry Goodburn all had assists.

Staples goaltender Aaron Kail made 34 saves as the Green Wave outshot Staples 38-30. Theo Dietter scored the winner early in the extra stanza.

“The boys battled hard in the third to claw back into it. We showed a lot of character tonight. We had an opportunity in OT but couldn’t capitalize. New Milford did. They’re a solid team and deserve a lot of credit. Hopefully we see them again later in the year,” said Staples Coach Matthew Bohn, alluding to a possible rematch in the Division III State Tournament.

Staples was coming off a 3-1 loss to South Windsor at Milford Ice Pavilion on Dec. 31. Paul was assisted by Nevstad and DiMaio. Kail was solid in net as South Windsor finished with a 36-13 advantage in shots on goal.

The Wreckers (3-3) are off from game action for a week as they prepare to meet FCIAC foe Trumbull Wednesday, Jan. 11 at The Rinks at Shelton; puck drop is set for 8 p.m.

Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories in Fairfield County, since the 1990s. Learn more about us here.