Martlets Fall to Northwest Catholic

The Martlets made the short trip up Hopmeadow Street to ISCC – our home away from home – to take on local rival Northwest Catholic. Playing in the smaller NHL rink at ISCC, the game proved to be what the coaches expected: tight checking, physical, and spirited on both sides – a really entertaining, exciting game against a strong, hard-working, and well-coached Lions team who have thus far had a successful season. Unfortunately, and for the frustratingly third game in a row, the Black and Gold played well for long stretches of the game but came away with a 1-goal loss. Both teams worked hard and produced sustained periods of good offense in their opponent’s end, and ultimately the shot totals and scoring chances were about equal for the evening – a measure of just how closely played this game was. After a scoreless 1st period, the Lions opened the scoring 6 minutes into the 2nd when they won possession of the puck in the Martlet end and a NWC forward fired a shot (or was it a pass?) from almost below the goal line to the front of the net. In a bit of bad luck – but than, you make your own luck in this game – the puck hit the stick of Westminster goaltender Alec Rosenbaum ‘23 and caromed high above Rosenbaum’s crease before falling behind him and into the goal. As has been their wont, the Martlets renewed their efforts and continued to battle, and that hard work paid off when the Lions took a penalty in neutral ice to put the JVs a man up late in the same period. Good possession work along the near boards by Nick Orenstein ‘23 – finally off the Covid list and back with the squad – and Easton Masse ‘25 opened up space along the blue line, and Masse found defensemen Jack Carter ‘23 on the opposite side of the offensive zone. Carter repositioned himself and fired a hard shot at the Lion cage; Jaden Goodsell ‘23 was right where he should have been, screening the keeper, and he deftly made a mid-air deflection of Carter’s shot under the cross bar to even the score at 1-1. The 3rd period was more of the same: back-and-forth and chances for Lions and Martlets, with the two keepers equal to the task. The Westminster defensive corps of Carter, Keegan Bankoff ‘22, Miles Kim ‘24, Luke Reiter ‘23, Jack Rockefeller ‘23, and Sawyer von Jess ‘22 were once again solid, controlling the play and headmanning the puck. Midway through the 3rd, however, a Westminster penalty gave NWC the man-advantage, and they quickly converted on a wild scramble in front that ended with the puck in the back of the Black and Gold net. Down a goal with 8 minutes to play, the Martlets generated real pressure. The line of Newt Cutler ‘22, Jack DeGulis ‘23, and Peter Diorio ‘23 in particular had several buzzing shifts, but to no avail. A late NWC major penalty and power play for the Martlets created a 6-on-4 advantage (with Rosenbaum on the bench) for the final 3 minutes of the game, but despite good energy in the Lions’ zone and several quality shots, too many NWC shinpads, skates, and sticks were in the way as they packed tightly around their goalie and the puck just couldn’t seem to find its way through. The final buzzer sounded with the Lions preserving their 1-2 lead. Hard for anyone to come away from this game not impressed by the level of play and the commitment by both teams; the coaches will take this sort of game any day of the week (perhaps with a different outcome, of course). The JVs could walk out of ISCC with their heads high. It’ll be a short turnaround: the team heads over to Windsor tomorrow to take on the rival Pelicans of Loomis Chaffee.