Unusual Game Against Hotchkiss Ends Well For Martlets

Second Boys' Hockey came home from the backwoods of northern Connecticut with a 4-1 victory. Both teams looked a little rusty having had only one practice since the winter weekend break, but Westminster was able to find the net three more times than their Bearcat opponents. Joe Putko '08 made his presence known by scoring the first goal four minutes into the contest (assists from Phli Sandler '10 and Brian Smith '08). 

With the score deadlocked at 1-1 in the second period, Tim Gray '11 performed a well-executed (but low percentage) "spinarama pass" to Sam Stanton '10 who broke the tie with an accurate short-side shot. Late in the middle frame, Sandler added to the Martlet lead in dramatic fashion by collecting a long breakaway pass and colliding with the Hotchkiss goalie - eventually, both the puck and Sandler, ended squarely in the back of the Bearcat net.

It appeared that the team would cruise to an uneventful victory until they made things interesting by getting multiple penalties during the final few minutes. Westminster's Drew Vemeeer '10, Brian Smith '08 and Hunter Spannaus '10 did a terrific job killing off a three minute 5 on 3 opportunity for Hotchkiss. Putko, Davie Hovey '09 and Kirby Zdrill '09 also helped the mandown units stave off the Hotchkiss attack. Stanton iced the game with an ENG with seconds remaining in the third period. Matt Betten '10 had another impressive outing between the pipes (29 saves) denying Hotchkiss time and time again, particularly during their powerplay assault in the closing minutes of the game. The Seconds have a rematch with Choate this coming Saturday.