Martlets Fall to Cardigan

The Martlets battled hard, but for the second game in a row faced a talented team backstopped by an exceptional goaltender. Ultimately, the shot totals were roughly equal: Westminster fired 29 shots on the Cougars’ cage while they countered with 33 of their own. As the Cardigan coach himself acknowledged, the score was not at all an accurate reflection of this exciting game between two equal teams. Westminster goalie Jake Holland ‘24 – a gamer who deserves great credit for manning the pipes – battled hard in front of his teammates and made several strong saves. Holland gets better with each passing minute; we’ll have to continue to work on strong defensive zone coverage, limiting second-chance opportunities, and blocking shots when called upon. Speaking of the latter, Reed Ghriskey ‘26 earned the hard hat for his shot-blocking commitment; he’ll need more than a few bags of ice to go along with the gratitude of his teammates. The hat was presented after the game by Friday’s deserving recipient, Jackson Alpaugh ‘24 (a highlight omitted from that game report . . . mea culpa). Alpaugh, together with linemates Anthony DiBartolomeo ‘25 and Jack Grahling ‘25 had another strong game, combining for a powerplay goal in the first period. DiBartolomeo pounced on a rebound of a Grahling shot to put the Martlets up 1-0 in the first (Richard Kim ‘25 also assisted on the play). The first period, which ended with the score knotted 1-1, was a good one, with the JVs playing with good structure and lots of energy. Leading the way again were blueliners Reid Bulger ‘24, Ben Norten ‘25, Miles Kim ‘24, and Lane Gallagher ‘25, with the help of Max Simpson ‘24 and Nick Wurts ‘24 when needed. Daniel Venture ‘24, Xavier Kahn ‘27, and Dylan Ness ‘26 also had strong games. Though there would be plenty of other quality Martlet chances in the second and third periods, the Cougar netminder was seemingly everywhere all at once, denying shot after shot. Meanwhile, Cardigan’s own corps of talented forwards were making the most of their opportunities. Late in the second and into the third, both teams, playing at pace and increasingly physical, got into penalty trouble and powerplays and penalty kills disrupted the flow of the game. Overall, the coaches were pleased with the team’s effort and play. Obviously, we’ll need to work on finding the back of the net – though this old coach is confident we won’t keep running into all-star goalies. We’ll also need to be more disciplined in our play and stay out of the penalty box. The team will get back to work on Monday and prepare for the trip down Interstate 91 to take on the Wild Boars of Choate.