Great Team Win

Second Boys' Hockey traveled to Choate for a game against the Wild Boars and came home with a satisfying 4-2 victory. Although both team had several chances in the first period, Choate was the only team to find the back of the net after redirecting a pass from the slot. Choate increased the lead to 2-0 early in the second frame when a Choate player jumped off his bench, received a pass, and scored on a semi-breakaway. Despite skating well and knocking on the door on several occasions, Westminster didn't get on the board until the close of the second period when Joe Putko '08 fired the puck on the net in traffic and watched the rubber find a slight opening to trickle just over the goal line. This first goal of the game (and young season) clearly had an energizing affect on the Black and Gold squad. The Martlets came out in the third period with added confidence and played an excellent 15 minutes of hockey. With under 8 minutes remaining, Tom Cavazuti  '10 slapped a loose puck in traffic by the Wild Boar netminder only following fine forechecking by linemates Kirby Zdrill '09 and Putko. The go ahead goal was produced several moments later as the line of Phil Sandler '10, Sam Stanton '10 and Tim Gray '11 started to use their speed and passing skills to good effect. After this line hemmed the opponents in their end for an extended period of time, Gray eventually slid the puck into the net to take the lead 3-2. The Westminster blueliners of Carson Christman '08, Oscar Ladd '11, Matt Mahany '10, Ryan Martin '10, Burt McGillivray '10, Brian Smith '08 and Drew Vermeer '10 all improved the level of their play and took control of the game down the stretch. Fittingly, defensemen, Smith, stole the puck as the seconds ticked down to score an empty net goal to seal the win. Finally, Matt Betten '10 came up with 22 saves in goal, some outstanding, to limit a very good Choate team to only two scores. As noted, this was a complete team effort with the team showing significant improvement in many aspects of the game. The team travels to Pomfret this coming Saturday.