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Martlets Fall to Deerfield
The Seconds made the trip up Route 91 to Deerfield to take on a talented Big Green side. The Martlets dominated the first five minutes of the contest – and in truth had the better of the play overall when the teams skated five-a-side – but a rash of penalties in the latter half of the first period and into the second scuttled the teams efforts. Westminster righted the ship in the third and played a clean, hard-working period, generating several good scoring chances, but ultimately could not overcome its earlier loss of focus. Sixth Form captain Jack Murdock opened the scoring when he took a pass from a forechecking Ryan Huntley '21 on the near-side hash marks and ripped a shot over the Deerfield keeper's left shoulder to stake out an early 1-0 lead. But that lead didn't last long as Deerfield took advantage of some sloppy defense to tie the game a few minutes later. This wasn't the only lead of the game blown by the Black and Gold; the team was also up 2-1 early in the second period after Will Rizzo '21 banged home a tight shot following a tic-tac-toe series of passes with line mates Hunter Johnson '21 and Huntley. But the team couldn't stay out of the penalty box, ultimately serving over 18 minutes in penalties from halfway through the first to the end of the second – that's 18 minutes of penalties in a roughly 24 minute span, and included two major penalties, two double minor penalties, and a slew of other offenses. During this first and second period stretch, the Martlets yielded two power play goals against, both on 5-on-3 Deerfield advantages. From up 2-1 to down 3-2 at the end of the second was the story of this matchup. Keeper Jack Schroeder '22 played his usual strong game, making 31 saves on the afternoon, but no keeper can be expected to bail his team out when he's facing a man advantage for such long stretches. In fairness to the referees, most of the penalties were deserved. Deerfield took their share of penalties as well in this choppy affair, but overall the Martlets made their own bed – and earned a heart-to-heart chat from their head coach between the second and third periods. To their credit, they responded and the third was a penalty-free, energetic frame for the Martlets. The team worked hard to create several really good scoring chances – but they couldn't seem to get the puck bounce or the right opportunity to even the score. The only miscue of the period was a bad line change that left an odd-man advantage in front of Schroeder, and Deerfield buried it to go up 2-4 on one of their few shots of the final period. Westminster pulled Schroeder with two minutes to go and pounded the Deerfield net but to no avail, and the game ended 2-4. Overall, a lost opportunity for the Seconds, but one which the coaches hope will be a learning experience for this group of young men as they move forward in their athletic careers but more importantly in life: how you do anything is how you do everything, and to be successful you simply cannot lose your focus and discipline. The team ends the 2018-19 campaign with a respectable 9-7-4 record. The coaches would like to thank Murdock, co-captains Carson Roth '19 and Alec Paro '19, and fellow veteran Wick Carter '19 for their hard work and leadership this season. The team would also like to thank all of the parents for their support this year, and in particular for the post-game food today and last Wednesday. No doubt some members of the team will move up to the First Team next year, and they will be missed. For those returning, it's only nine months till hockey season.
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