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Martlets Hold on for Win
Still shorthanded by illness and injury, and clearly a bit rusty from the long winter weekend, the Seconds hosted the always-tough Hotchkiss Bearcats at Jackson Rink. Backstopped by the steady play of goalie Jack Schroeder '22, who had 31 saves on the afternoon, the Martlets played well enough – emphasis on the "well enough" – to post a 5-3 victory. With 32 total shots of its own, Westminster built a 3-0 lead in the second period, but the Bearcats took advantage of two defensive breakdowns to tighten the game to 3-2. Ryan Huntley '21 scored Westminster's first two goals, one in the first period and one in the second, both on breakaways he generated when he forced turnovers in neutral ice. Using his speed to create a bit of separation from the pursuing Hotchkiss defensemen, Huntley scored virtual carbon-copy goals, albeit one from the left side and one from the right: on the first, he toe-dragged through the feet of the Hotchkiss D along the left wall, then made a quick move to the net before sliding the puck underneath the Bearcat keeper's pads; on the second he broke to the right wall before making a nearly identical move to make it 2-0. Ben Michaud '22 increased the Westminster lead to 3-0 a few minutes after Huntley's second tally when he rifled home a wrist shot from the high slot. That goal was started by Walker Jones '20, who made the smart play dumping the puck just inside the center line, then won the race to the puck in the Hotchkiss end. Joined by Aidan Petrie '20, the two forechecked hard and secured possession of the puck; Petrie pushed the puck to Jones, who made a great pass to Michaud. But with the score 3-0, the Martlets relaxed a little too much. Hotchkiss earned its first goal by outworking the Black and Gold in front of Schroeder and knocking in a loose puck; a bit of good body play was called for but went unanswered. They earned their second when a Bearcat forward negated an icing call by out-hustling a Westminster defensemen to create a 1-on-3 against. The ensuing tic-tac-toe play made it 3-2 (the other four Martlets were, frankly, trailing the play and defensively MIA). Late in the second period, the Martlets restored the two-goal lead when Matt Lewin '20, on rehab assignment from the Big Club, made a great play down low in the Hotchkiss end and fed the puck to Huntley, who wrapped it around the far post to the waiting Petrie for the goal. In the third period and the score 4-2, Westminster and Hotchkiss traded goals: the Martlets scored first when David Harris '21 bunted home a midair rebound to make it 5-2 – his first goal of the season and well-earned given his overall good play this year. Will Mazzaro '21 had taken the initial shot on net, pouncing on a rebound from an Alex Tonioni '22 shot from the point. This is the kind of hardworking "ugly" goal the Martlets haven't been scoring of late but are always needed to win hockey games against tough opponents. Both Mazzaro and Tonioni earned assists on the play; Tonioni was +3 for the game to lead the Martlet blueliners. Hotchkiss kept working and responded later in the third when a bit of puck-watching allowed a Bearcat forward to gather a quick pass from a teammate below the goal line and roof the puck over Schroeder's left shoulder. That made three goals against Westminster, all the result of less than assiduous defensive play. That will have to be corrected if the Martlets are going to compete against some of the teams that await on the schedule. The good news is the scoring for the game as the Seconds were able to batten down the hatches and kill the game in the waning minutes. Credit is due Hotchkiss, as the Bearcats worked hard right to the final whistle. With six games remaining, the Martlets have worked their way to a 7-3-4 record. The team's next test will be a stern one: it will make the trip this Saturday to Wallingford to face the Choate Wild Boars – with whom it battled to a 0-0 tie at Jackson Rink in December. The rematch will be a good test of the progress the team has made this season, so it's back to work Thursday and Friday to prepare.
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