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Martlets Fall to Wild Boars in OT
The Seconds traveled to Wallingford to face the Wild Boars of Choate for a 5 p.m. Saturday game — a challenging task in any circumstances made doubly so as the team missed the services of several key players owing to illness and injury. The Founders League rivals had battled to a 0-0 tie at Jackson Rink in January, so this game promised to be an exacting test — and neither team disappointed the assembled fans. Three separate times the Wild Boars took the lead, and each time the Martlets dug in and managed to tie the game. But with 1:40 left in the overtime session, the hosts won a face-off in the Westminster end and worked the puck to their right point defenseman, who fired a shot through the heavy traffic in front of keeper Jack Schroeder '22 for the sudden-death win. Schroeder, who had 23 total saves, played his usual steady game but was the victim of a few unlucky bounces and bad breaks. For their part the Martlets, who fired 28 shots on the Choate net, played a gritty game throughout even though the game-time lineup included only 15 players. Choate opened the scoring in the first period while Westminster was on the powerplay when a Wild Boar forward fired a puck from the far corner along the goal line where a crashing teammate, entangled with a Westminster defender, somehow managed to deflect the puck past Schroeder. The Martlets evened the score later in the period on a pretty combination play: Nate Stevens '21, after pinching along the near boards, won the puck and dropped it back to Aidan Petrie '20. Petrie quickly passed it along the offensive blue line to Alex Tonioni '22 — who played an exceptionally strong overall game — and Tonioni fired a low, hard shot that beat the Choate keeper cleanly on the near post. Choate regained the lead early in the second period when a forward threw the puck from below the goal line to the front of the Martlet net, where it caromed off a Black and Gold skate and underneath Schroeder's pads. But again Westminster answered: two minutes later Matt Lewin '20 won a loose puck just inside the Martlet blue line and took off down the near boards, beating the Choate defender before cutting inside and burying the puck in the top corner. Unfortunately, that lead did not last long. Choate made the score 2-3 when a quick passing play left a Choate forward open on the far face off circle; Schroeder cut the angle quickly but the shot slipped by him on the near side. But in this crazy back-and-forth second period Westminster kept battling and Will Rizzo '21, receiving a pass from Stevens to break out of the defensive zone, led a two-on-one break with line mate Newt Cutler '22. Cutler drove hard to the net, and that gave Rizzo the space to fire the puck past the goalie and knot the game at 3 goals apiece. That's how the second period ended. The third period, while scoreless, was not uneventful; both teams had their chances and both keepers made their share of solid saves. With fewer than two minutes on the clock, the Martlets seemed to have a real chance to steal the win as the puck bounced around in a mad scramble in front of the Choate net before a defenseman was able to knock it into the corner; in truth the Martlets had the balance of the play in the final five minutes of the game. The OT was likewise a thriller: the Martlets earned a power play and generated several quality scoring chances that went for naught as the Wild Boar keeper made save after save and kept his team in the game. Choate killed the penalty off, and then a Westminster icing led to the fateful face-off that resulted in sudden victory for home side. While certainly a disappointing outcome, the coaches cannot be disappointed in the effort or the play of the team. The squad played a solid 50 minutes and showed real character chasing the lead for most of that time. With only two weeks remaining in the season, the Martlets have five games left, including three tough contests this week: Loomis away Wednesday, Northfield Mount Hermon Friday night and Berkshire at home Saturday. A strong effort puts the team in good shape for these upcoming contests — plenty of seats available for Black and Gold hockey fans.
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