Martlets Skate to a Tie With T-P

The Martlets opened 2024 hosting a strong Pride squad from Trinity-Pawling. Games with T-P are always tight-checking, physical affairs, and this game at Jackson Rink did not disappoint. The capacity crowd was treated to a gangbuster of a hockey game, featuring puck battles in all three zones and 10 goals overall. Westminster jumped out on top of the visitors 3-0 in the first period – likely taking advantage of some bus legs on the Pride’s part. Reid Bulger ‘24 opened the scoring for the Martlets six minutes into the game when he took a nifty saucer pass from James Frangos ‘24 on the blue line and fired a laser through the traffic in front of the Pride net. The T-P keeper – who had a terrific game, tallying 44 saves on the afternoon – never saw Bulger’s low wrister to the stick side. The JVs made it 2-0 when Dillon Seals ‘25 intercepted a T-P clearance attempt – by leaping into the air to snare the puck with his glove before dropping it to his stick – and shot the puck similarly through traffic into the net. That goal came only a minute after Bulger’s. Jack Grahling ‘25 made it 3-0 scarcely two minutes after that when a sustained forechecking effort alongside linemates Anthony DiBartolomeo ‘25 and Jackson Alpaugh ‘24 led to a quick series of passes before Grahling scored from just inside the near faceoff dot, his first of the season. DiBartolomeo and Alpaugh both assisted on the goal; all three played well and had multipoint afternoons. The first period ended with the Black and Gold carrying the play and up 3-0, but the coaches knew that the game had a long way to go and nothing should be taken for granted. Sure enough, the Pride came roaring out in the second frame, skating hard and playing the body. The Martlets were back on their heels more than a little bit, and T-P took full advantage, notching the next two goals to make the score 3-2 and Westminster struggling to find its game again. T-P came right back out with the same intensity in the third stanza, scoring the tying goal at 3-3 only a minute into the period when a sloppy power play led to a short handed goal against. Too many questionable chances, miscues, and turnovers simply led to too many odd-man breaks and second chances against Martlet netminder Jake Holland ‘24, and despite several excellent saves – he posted 24 for the game – he could not be expected to save every one. T-P took the lead outright 3-4 on their second shorthanded goal only 45 seconds later (an audible groan escaped from this old coach on that one), and the Martlets had to collect themselves. Now chasing the lead, the coaches took a timeout so the team could refocus and bear down. After that, the JVs put together several strong offensive shifts and forced the Pride goalie to keep his team in the game. Led by Alpaugh, DiBartolomeo, and Grahling, the forward corps of Daniel Venture ‘24, Xavier Kahn ‘27, Frangos, Jack Peterson ‘25, Zac Jainchill ‘25, Auggie Barrett ‘24, and Nick Wurts ‘24 provided good pressure and an effective forechecking rotation. This effort paid off when Grahling, DiBartolomeo, and Alpaugh again maintained possession of the puck in the T-P end and took several quality shots in quick succession. Eventually, the puck found its way to Alpaugh in front, and he hammered it home to knot the game at 4-4. Unfortunately, with four minutes remaining, another failure to clear the puck out of the Martlet end resulted in a 2-on-0 against Holland, and suddenly Westminster was down again, 4-5. But with the same gritty response to losing the lead the first time, the Black and Gold game right back to make it 5-5 when an outstanding forecheck by Grahling and DiBartolomeo forced T-P to lift the puck out of their zone where Bulger seized the puck and shot it back into the T-P end. Grahling won the race from the offensive blue line and pounced on the puck, shrugged off a Pride defender, and found DiBartolomeo, who made a perfect tape-to-tape pass to Alpaugh all alone in front of the T-P cage. Deking left, then right, then left again to his forehand, Alpaugh lifted the puck over the keeper’s right shoulder with three minutes on the clock. From that point on, the game was all Westminster: in both the final minutes of regulation and the ensuing overtime, the lion’s share (pun intended) of the chances were on Black and Gold sticks. Holland deftly turned the puck aside when called upon. But despite the energy, Westminster’s efforts came to nought and the game ended in a 5-5 tie. Also contributing to this first game of the New Year were defenseman Ben Norten ‘25, who had a strong game, and his blueline mates Miles Kim ‘24, Richard Kim ‘25, and Max Simpson ‘24, all of whom contributed. On the one hand, losing a 3-0 lead is frustrating, but on the other the coaches felt that the grittiness demonstrated by the team down both 3-4 and 4-5 against a solid opponent and coming back was the real story of the afternoon. Certainly the boys should feel like this tie is more of a win in that regard. Lots of positives to build on as the team moves forward this season. Jack Grahling earned the hard hat for his old-school blue-collar work today, and congratulations are due to Alpaugh and Bulger, who will lead the team as Co-Captains for the rest of the season. The team will be back to work for mini-game Monday after a Sunday of rest and scholarly pursuits, and the coaches are looking forward to the team’s continued improvement. Next up: the Taft Rhinos, who will visit Jackson Rink on Wednesday. Puck drop at 4:30 pm. See you at the rink!