Martlets Shutout Loomis

The Martlets took wing for the short flight down the Farmington River to meet the waiting Pelicans in their icy aerie. Controlling the game from start to finish, the JVs skated to a convincing 9-0 victory to get back in the win column. Six different Martlets found the back of the net, and in all nine Martlets had at least a point – of only fourteen suited up owing to illness, injury, and other reasons. The Black and Gold fired 55 shots on the Pelican cage, and it must be said that both Loomis keepers had their hands full and made several terrific saves on breakaways, rebounds, and scrums in front. In the Westminster end, Jake Holland ‘24 had a comparatively quiet afternoon, though he too made a few big saves in key moments, particularly in the first period as the Martlets got off to a bit of a slow start. Holland had 14 saves posting the clean sheet. This physical contest was marred by too many penalties, ten for the hosts (including two majors) and six for Westminster, and had game misconducts on both sides. With that said, though there’ll be some conversations on Monday, this old coach was generally pleased with the Martlets’ ability to stay focused and keep playing hockey to the final horn. Anthony DiBartolomeo ‘25 had his usual strong, 200-foot game, contributing 2 goals and 2 assists. DiBartolomeo got the Martlets on the board four minutes into the game when he took a crisp pass from Jackson Alpaugh ‘24 in front and slipped it underneath the keeper’s pads. That was the only goal of the first period, but the ice was clearly tipped in the Martlets’ favor, particularly as they enjoyed several power plays in succession. It was the second period that determined the outcome of the game: Westminster exploded for 5 goals in under 10 minutes and never looked back. The first of these was from Danny Venture ‘24, who scored a powerplay goal on the far post on a great pass from Xavier Kahn ‘27 from below the goal line on the opposite side. Then, less than a minute later Zac Jainchill ‘25 scored with an assist from linemate Benji Hanson ‘27, rifling a low hard shot from the top of the circle that beat the keeper on the near post. A few minutes after that the hardworking Jainchill struck again after a scramble in front; that goal was assisted by linemate Jack Peterson ‘25 and Hanson. That line – of Jainchill, Hanson, and Peterson had a strong game, combining for 3 goals and 7 points overall. The next two goals came off the stick of Kahn, and both resulted from nifty tic-tac-toe passing plays as the murmurating Martlets moved the puck well and generated shot after shot on the Pelican net. On the first of Kahn’s genos, DiBartolomeo and Alpaugh earned assists and on the second it was Venture and Dylan Ness ‘26 moving the puck well and finding Kahn. Both goals earned cheers and gasps from the bench and the gathered faithful. Those tallies made it 6-0 Westminster at the end of the second, a period that ended with a raft of penalties and disqualifications for both teams. After gathering themselves and a reminder from the coaches of expectations and standards of appropriate conduct, the Martlets got back to work in the third. Jack Grahling ‘25 made it 7-0 less than two minutes in, confidently finishing off a 2-on-1 break with DiBartolomeo assisting. Peterson got it to 8-0 when Jainchill slotted a nice pass to him in front on the powerplay; Hanson also assisted, making it a three-apple night for him. DiBartolomeo finished the scoring unassisted when he carried the puck the full length of the ice before ripping it up under the crossbar over the keeper’s left shoulder – a fitting exclamation point for a strong offensive effort for the team. Kudos to the short-handed defensive corps of Reid Bulger ‘24, Ben Norten ‘25, Lane Gallagher ‘25 (back from injury), Richard Kim ‘25, and especially to Nick Wurts ‘24 who dropped back to the blue line for the day to help the team out and played well. The blueliners logged major minutes and did their jobs, taking care of Holland in our end and head-manning the puck up the ice to the fleet Martlet forwards. They also managed the powerplay well, controlling the puck and the offensive zone and enabling the JVs to score three PP goals in the game. There’ll be some postmortem conversations about conduct and sportsmanship, certainly, but overall the coaches were pleased with the effort, the puck movement, and the overall comportment of the team in a game that could have gone in a different direction. Holland earned the hard hat for his shutout, though it could have gone to several players for their effort and grittiness. After a quick stop for dinner – where it seemed an astonishing number of calories were consumed, even for teenage boys – the team arrived back on campus well-fed and happy. The boys will be back at practice for mini-game Monday and prepare for Williston on the road on Wednesday. Check with your local travel agent for road game packages and discounts; use my name – that always works. See you at the rink!