Martlets Put Up 10 in Win over Pelicans

On a bitterly cold January Saturday afternoon, the Martlets skated over to Windsor to take on perennial rival Loomis Chaffee. The Pelicans are a hard-working, focused team, and backstopped by impressive goaltending, they battled for the full 48 minutes. But in the end, the older, more experienced Black & Gold were simply too much for the hosts. In the end, a total of 13 Martlets made it onto the scoresheet, as quick puck movement and impressive, sustained puck possession generated Westminster chance after chance. Captain Reed Ghriskey ‘26 led the way, with a four-point afternoon: a goal and 3 assists. This included a terrific pass out of the corner to Dylan Zapata ‘27 in the high slot, which exemplified the Martlet’s play today, possessing the puck down low and working the biscuit low-to-high and hammering the Pelican netminder. A note of appreciation to the two Loomis keepers this afternoon, who combined for an impressive 61 saves. For the loyal Martlet hockey fans in attendance and those at home, that’s an impressive number, and both keepers get a sincere tip of the cap from this old coach. Yeoman’s work, for sure. After Ghriskey, Zapata had his goal and 2 assists, Captain Xavier Kahn ‘27 had a goal and 2 assists, Paul Coccaro ‘28 also had a goal and 2 assists, Connor Quinn ‘29, playing hard and setting the pace, notched 2 goals and an assist, Patrick Saxe ‘26 had 2 assists, Tyler Ungerman ‘26 had his third goal in four games, Gavin Bulger ‘27 had 2 goals, Sam McGarvey ‘28 had a goal and an assist, and Drew Doering ‘29, Benji Hanson ‘27, and Grayson Augsberger ‘29 each added an assist. The Martlets seized control of the game early, scoring 4 times in the first 7 minutes of the game. Kahn got the Martlets started on the second shift of the game, firing a wrist shot into the top left corner of the net. Kahn’s goal was followed in quick succession by goals from Quinn, Ghriskey, and Ungerman; all three of those tallies followed good, hard pressure in the Pelican end. In the second period, goals from McGarvey, Zapata, and Quinn again padded the lead. Loomis earned their first goal of the game late in the 2nd frame when a 4-on-4 ended, and a Pelican defenseman found his teammate just out of the penalty box and behind the Martlet defenders—who were perhaps guilty of focusing too much on offense—with a perfect stretch pass that led to a breakaway on Martlet goaltender Danny Maher ‘26. The Loomis forward gave Maher a bit of a shoulder fake before firing it over Maher’s right pad. That’s on the skaters, as Maher played well in his first start of the year (coming off illness and injury). The veteran stalwart Maher, who in past years had borne the brunt of comparatively thin Martlet rosters, played well today: he posted 28 saves on the game and frustrated the Pelicans on more than one occasion. Loomis’s second goal of the game came in the 3rd period when a bouncing puck could not be corralled by Westminster, and an opportunistic Loomis player slammed it home as it lay behind Maher. But the 3rd stanza also included goals from Bulger (2 goals, in fact) and Coccaro, so that miscue was more than covered. Overall, the coaches were pleased with the team’s play: the goal was to focus on good structure in all three zones, implementation of the systems the team has been working on, defensemen getting the puck up ice quickly, and overall playing a hard, clean game. This was all mostly accomplished, especially the last: the Martlets only had 2 penalties today, and one of those was off-setting after a minor scrum in front of the Pelican goal. The Martlets deserved and will enjoy the win today, but this Pelican team will be back next year, and the result may well be a different one. With a massive snowstorm in the forecast, the Martlets will rest up this weekend and hunker down: the coming week includes 3 games: Tuesday at home against Elite Hockey, Wednesday on the road at Williston, and home Saturday against Kent. All three games present quality opponents for the JVs, so we’ll have to be ready to compete. Ticket packages are available at select locations, but this team is a hot ticket—so don’t delay. See you at the rink!