Martlets Fall to Salisbury

For the second game in a row, the Martlets played well at Jackson Rink and controlled the play – even dominated for long stretches of the game – but ran into a hot goaltender and came away on the short end of the score. The coaches were very pleased with the teams’ efforts and play; several players had their best games of the season to date. Ultimately, Westminster outshot Salisbury 40-20 on the day, a statistic that fairly represents the balance of the play. Thus, credit for Salisbury’s win belongs to their goaltender, who played very well and cooly turned aside 39 shots, including several excellent scoring chances from the home side. Salisbury scored first scarcely 2 minutes into the game when a Martlet miscue in the offensive zone led to an odd-man break on Westminster’s keeper Max Hausman ‘25 (who played very well, and was also was celebrating his birthday) and the Salisbury duo made two quick passes and beat Hausman on the short side. Westminster redoubled their efforts, however, and soon took charge of the game. Despite peppering the Salsibury net, the Black and Gold were repeatedly frustrated in their efforts, and the 1st period ended with the hosts down 0-1. The team came storming out in the 2nd and continued to possess the puck well and generate good offensive chances. Finally, with 2:33 to go in the 2nd, Jack DeGulis ‘23 took a perfect pass from Newt Cutler ‘22 and beat the Knight keeper on the glove side with a terrific shot. Cole Raycraft ‘23 also assisted on the play. The game continued knotted at 1-1 into the 3rd period, with Westminster overall producing the better play. Unfortunately, a turnover on the Salisbury blue line led to a breakaway against Westminster, and the Martlet defenseman had no option but to tie up the Knight forward, resulting in a penalty shot (this old coach cannot recall the last time a penalty shot had been awarded in a JV game, for or against, but has to concede that it was a fair call). The Salisbury forward who took the shot cooly beat Hausman on the stick side to give the visitors a 1-2 lead. The rest of the 3rd period was all Martlets, as the JVs worked hard to produce shot after shot, but the Salisbury keeper was equal to the challenge. A key penalty late against the Black and Gold undercut the team’s final efforts with Hausman on the bench, which was too bad. And so the final horn sounded with the Martlets again accepting a loss that felt like it should have been a win. Nevertheless, the coaches, again, were very pleased with the overall play and effort (although the result certainly has them rethinking some of their New Years’ resolutions . . .). With their overall record at 4-3, the Martlets will get to work preparing for their next game against rival Loomis Chaffee next Saturday. Many thanks to the Hausman family for providing the post-game pizzas – always softens a loss!