The 2023 Bender Classic hockey tournament to benefit Special Olympics was a huge success on and off the ice. Newtown Police Sergeant William Chapman and Officers Matt Hayes and Pete Wlasuk joined forces to raise money for a good cause (and their arms in celebration of goals scored) when they took on a trio from the University of Connecticut Police Department between periods of the Newtown-New Fairfield co-op team’s visit to E.O. Smith Tolland in Storrs, on January 7.

“The crowd at Frietas Ice Forum in Storrs definitely got their money’s worth,” said Chapman, whose team won the game within the game 4-1.

“The night opened with everyone in attendance singing Happy Birthday to UConn K9 Tildy, who gave an enthusiastic bark just prior to her ceremonial puck drop,” Chapman noted.

Newtown’s police took on UConn Officers Rene Rivera, Dean Vertefeuille, and Bill Funk during both intermissions of what Chapman described as an incredibly physical defensive battle between the high schools’ teams, which the E.O. Smith Tolland team won by a score of 1-0.

During the first intermission, the police took to the ice and a goal by Chapman gave the Newtown PD squad an early 1-0 lead. Hayes followed with a goal and, in the final seconds of play, a breakaway by Chapman put Newtown up 3-0. Both teams came out strong in the second intermission. UConn PD spent a lot more time in Newtown territory but was unable to stop Wlasuk from connecting for a fourth Newtown goal. After a barrage of near misses by Vertafeuille, Funk put UConn PD on the board. The Newtown Police prevailed 4-1.

“I am so grateful to our generous sponsors and all who donated and helped spread the word about this event. We loved working with UConn PD on this. Those guys are class acts and stepped up without hesitation. We had a great turnout, including some of the Best Buddies and Unified Sports participants from E.O. Smith High School,” Chapman said.

“We raised over $11,000 for Special Olympics so far and the donations continue to come in. I was also incredibly proud of the effort put forth by the Newtown-New Fairfield and E.O. Smith-Tolland players. They played a great game and left everything out on the ice,” Chapman added. “As an E.O. Smith Alum, this event is such a great intersection of two communities that I hold dear. The event is generating a lot of excitement and I think it has a great future.”

The link to donate will remain open at benderclassichockey.com. The Newtown Police Department will have two more annual events to benefit Special Olympics as the year goes on: The Penguin Plunge and Tip-a-Cop.

The Newtown-New Fairfield hockey team was coming off a 5-1 win over the visiting Suffield-Granby-Windsor Locks co-op at Danbury Ice Arena on January 4. Adrian Wadwah had two goals and an assist and Sebastian Cilia netted a goal and set up another. Gio Cucco and Cam Gouveia both had a goal and an assist. Ryan Anderson, Blake Ballard, Alex Schmidt, and Eddie Faircloth all had assists. Garrett McCollam was in goal for the win.

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.