Come-Frome-Behind Overtime Win For Martlets

The Westminster Seconds traveled to Watertown, CT. and returned with a come-from-behind 4-3 win in OT over the Taft Rhinos. Taft opened the scoring with a short-handed goal, quickly followed by the Martlets' Bryson Tomcik '15 tying the game with a power play goal and assist from Dan Roberts '14. The second period belonged completely to Taft. The Rhinos out-skated, outhit and outscored Westminster and gained a 3-1 advantage going into the third period. They could have actually had several more had it not been for the excellent goaltending of Stephen Gasior '16. Fortunately, the Black and Gold had a chance to rest and regroup between periods and came out a much more determined and disciplined team for the final frame. Steve McCormick '14, assisted by Philippe Morin '15, gave the visitors the lift they needed by scoring a pretty deke goal early on in the third. With a little over two minutes remaining on the clock, Roberts, assisted by Tomcik and Zach Orzeck '16, bombed a high riser from 40 feet out directly over the goalie's shoulder to tie the contest. In overtime, Westminster almost grabbed the victory in the first minute on a power play opportunity but was denied by Taft's goaltender. With less than two minutes to go in the contest, Derek Leydecker '15 slid a pass over to linemate Tommy Griffith '14 in the low slot, who whirled and backhanded the puck through the Rhino's five hole for a dramatic winning score. Again, Gasior made some spectacular saves down the stretch (41 total) to keep his team in the game and clearly earned the game puck after this exciting win. Taft played a really strong game and the Martlets were fortunate to skate away victorious. Westminster hosts Eaglebrook this coming Friday, then travels to Salisbury on Saturday to end a busy week. A thank-you to the Brandells for providing scrumptious chocolate chip cookies at game's end -- a happy ending to a full day.