Martlets Defeat Loomis

Following a week of light attendance at practice due to illness and also missing several key players come game time, the Martlets continued their momentum with a decisive 6-2 victory over an always gritty Loomis squad at Jackson Rink.  Going down 0-1 early on an odd angle shot from the corner, Sebastien Blanc ‘23 settled into his first contest of the new year and played solidly as the Pelicans tried to build on their own early momentum.  Time and again, Blanc would shut the door on some in-tight Loomis opportunities, yielding only one more goal over the course of the afternoon.  Meanwhile, the Black and Gold would begin to pressure their opponent, taking advantage of good team speed and some pinpoint shooting, two themes for the day as the Martlets enjoyed some good scoring success with some beautiful goals.  Jack Adams ‘23 would become the gold standard in this one, notching a rare but welcomed hat trick as he opened the Martlet scoring with a beautiful wrist shot after gathering in a deft Luke Reiter ‘23 pass.  Adams would score his second a short time later on a low, hard shot at the end of a power play that appeared initially saved before just trickling in behind the Loomis tender.  Jake Timone ‘25 would provide support for Adam’s hat trick quest with a lovely tape to tape pass before Adam’s buried that one, causing the fans to erupt in Jackson Rink and cascading at least one hat onto the ice surface in celebration.  Reiter stepped up as well, scoring two of his own, the second on a shrewd deke in close following some skillful stick-handling on his part.  Evin Curtiss ‘24 would also earn his way onto the score sheet with a high hard wrist shot, beating the Pelican goalie over his glove side.  Always an offensive threat as a defenseman, it was nice to see one go in for Curtiss.  Other notable performances included the ever-consistent Stuart Dorman ‘23 who played physical and effective in the D zone, the line of Troy Griffith, Owen Murphy (who finished his checks all over the ice to the team cheers of Murph!), and hardworking Jack Grahling ‘25 as they relentlessly forechecked the Pelicans and enjoyed more than a few good scoring opportunities.  The JV squad will take a mid-season break from practice on Monday and venture to Avon to cheer on the varsity team as they go head to head with the winged beavers.