The state tournament begins tomorrow (March 11th) for Greenwich High School’s boys ice hockey team, which certainly intends on making its presence felt in the competitive 11-team CIAC Division I Tournament.

Seeded sixth, the Cardinals host No. 11 Notre Dame Prep at Dorothy Hamill Skating Rink in the opening round of the CIAC Division I Tournament tomorrow at 4:15 p.m. Greenwich is 2-0 against Notre Dame Prep so far this season, registering regular season victories of 8-3 and 6-5.

The Greenwich-Notre Dame Prep winner advances to the Division I Tournament’s quarterfinals, where they will face second-seeded Fairfield Prep on March 14th. Coached by Neal Rich, who is in his first season at the helm, Greenwich sports an overall record of 9-11, after winning six out of its last 10 games, including a 6-3 mark to close its regular season.

The sixth-seeded Cardinals enter the state tournament after qualifying for the FCIAC Tournament. Greenwich played Darien High School in the semifinal-round, dropping a 5-1 decision to the Blue Wave at Darien Ice Rink. Darien, which lost to rival New Canaan, 1-0, in overtime in the FCIAC Tournament final, skated to a 3-0 first-period lead against GHS, then added two more goals in the second period on its way to the semifinal-round victory. Still, Greenwich exited its playoff matchup versus Darien optimistic about its chances in the state tournament.

“I think we played a pretty good first period, the second period, we broke down the wheels fell off the bus if you will and then we played them pretty hard in the third period,” Rich said following the FCIAC semifinals on Feb. 28th at Darien. “We shut them out and won the third period, essentially, 1-0. We have a good look going into states, but we would have liked to have beaten the No. 1 team in the FCIAC.”

Darien (16-4) received goals from five different players in the FCIAC semifinal showdown. Sophomore forward Holden Mohr, senior forward Ryan Thurlow, junior forward Teddy Baum, senior Jack Marisca, also a forward and sophomore winger Carter Marisca each recorded goals for the victorious Blue Wave against the Cardinals.

“Everyone contributed, it wasn’t one or two guys, which is a fantastic team effort when you have five different guys showing up scoring goals,” Darien coach Mac Budd said after his squad’s FCIAC semifinal-round win. “I think it was a solid effort, we got by and we beat a very good team. Greenwich is good and they certainly put up a good fight.”

The Blue Wave, who shut out Greenwich twice in both of its regular season victories against the Cardinals, knew they had to be in top form at both ends of the ice in the tournament.

“We did what we needed to do,” Budd said. “All coaches will tell you a win at this time of year is a good thing. For one reason or another, we’ve struggled with this game in the past. We’ve had a bunch of good teams come through over the years and we’ve gotten knocked off in this game by some really good teams.”

Greenwich’s goal was scored by senior forward Teddy Johnson, who recently returned to action after missing significant time with an injury. Johnson’s scored off a shot from just inside the left faceoff circle with 12:59 remaining in the third period.

Senior Hayden Odefelt and junior John Meehan, both of whom have ignited the Cardinals offensively this winter, assisted on Johnson’s tally.

Mohr opened the game’s scoring, tallying with six minutes left in the first period, giving Darien a 1-0 lead. At the 4:03 mark of the first period, Thurlow scored off a one-timer, then with 58 second to go in the opening period, Baum struck, making it a 3-0 game. The Blue Wave added a goal on their first shift of the second period, with Marisca tallying 12 seconds into the period.

“The first one we put in on ourselves, which is one of those fluke things that happens,” Rich noted. ‘The next two, we just got beat out of the corner, not being tight in front of our net and they snuck a couple past.”

“We take the good things we did from this game and the previous games that we won coming into this and we build on that and if we play a good 45 minutes, I think we can take anyone in the state,” Rich continued. “We just have to hit the net and bang some pucks in.”

Greenwich began its 2025-2026 season with victories against Notre Dame Prep and Simsbury, then lost six straight, before getting back on track. Following a 3-8 start, the Cards won six of their final nine regular season games, earning wins versus Trumbull, St. Joseph, Westhill/Stamford, Ridgefield, North Haven and Notre Dame Prep again.

“Now we’re looking toward states,” Rich noted. “I think we had a strong start, a little lull in the middle and then we started winning some games at the end. So, I’m happy with the progress that we’re showing. Our grit, our consistency is kicking in.”

“We just had an off period against Darien,” Rich added. “Against a good team like Darien, they’re going to put some pucks in the back of the net.”

Indeed, the Cardinals have improved both offensively and defensively throughout the season leading up to the CIAC Division I Tournament. They hope to produce an especially strong performance in front of their home crowd at Dorothy Hamill Skating Rink against Notre Dame Prep in the tournament’s opening round.

“I’m happy with what we’re doing, the way we’re playing,” Rich said. We’re not taking egregious penalties like we were early on and losing games because of it.”