Martlets Fall to Boars

The Martlets welcomed the Wild Boars of Choate for a Saturday evening game at Jackson Rink – a rematch of a thrilling 3-2 Westminster win in Wallingford in December. The Choate JVs were certainly looking for some payback, and their much-improved side skated away with the victory, 8-4. That’s the number that counts, of course, but the fuller story of this contest was that the Martlets outshot the visitors 59 to 27, dominating possession for long stretches of the game. The Choate keeper was terrific, stopping 55 of those shots, which included more than a few outstanding saves. This was one of those games for the Black and Gold: the team notched four goals, to be sure, but the sheer number of chances that were turned aside by the Wild Boar goalie and more than a few clangs off posts and crossbars made for a frustrating evening. Every bounce seemed to go the other way, every miscue and turnover was taken full advantage of by Choate, and pucks just seemed to find their way into the Martlet net. This old coach has been there before, and while one big play can sometimes turn the tide, that moment didn’t seem to be in the cards for the Martlets tonight. Perhaps we failed to properly propitiate the hockey gods, or maybe we have offended them in some way; we’ll have to burn some incense and sing some Gregorian chants in the locker room tomorrow – and we’ll even consider sending a pilgrimage to the Oracle of Lester Patrick to make amends. Despite a strong start for the team, the Martlets found themselves down 0-2 less than four minutes in. The Wild Boars added a third goal with six minutes to play and, although steady centerman Anthony DiBartolomeo ‘25 got the home side on the board on a breakaway and cut the score to 1-3 less than a minute after that third Choate goal, the JVs were chasing the lead all night long. The first period concluded with that 1-3 score on the board, and the Martlets went to the locker room to regroup and refocus. The second frame featured two goals by both teams: Dillon Seals ‘25, just of the IR, fired a heavy wrist shot through traffic from the near point – good net-front presence from Nick Wurts ‘24 and a clean face-off win assist from Reed Ghriskey ‘26 led to the Seals chance – to make it 2-3. But that was as close as the Martlets got. Choate scored the next two from long range before Jack Grahling ‘25 collected a rebound of a Ben Norten ‘25 shot from the point on the powerplay to get the score to 3-5. That Martlets continued to press, controlling the puck and the play and pounding away at the Choate net. But too many risky plays led to gifted turnovers on both blue lines (enough with the toe drags! no more pucks into shinpads!), missed checks here and there (rink turns are banned!), and the quick counters and speed of the Wild Boar forwards led to three more goals for the visitors. Dylan Ness ‘26, who worked hard and played a physical game in all three zones all game, fired home the final Martlet goal from the slot on a pretty combination play involving linemates Daniel Venture ‘24 and Xaiver Kahn ‘27. But in the end, the JVs simply could not consistently solve the mystery of the Choate netminder while the Wild Boars skillfully made the most of their chances. Certainly a disappointing result, but the coaches felt that the team had put in a good effort and had done lots of things well – but in sports, as in life, sometimes that’s not enough. Ness earned the hard hat for his complete game – he gets better every day. Tips of the hard hat to Captain Jackson Alpaugh ‘24, who elevated his game tonight, and to his co-Captain Reid Bulger ‘24 and to defenseman Ben Norten ‘25, both of whom logged major minutes against Choate’s skilled, fleet forwards. Jake Holland ‘24 played a good game, tallying 19 saves, including a toe save on a 2-on-1 break when the team was scrapping to close the gap and a glove save late that signaled his grit in the pipes for the full 48 minutes. The Martlets had some pizza after the game, the taste dampened by a little understandable melancholy. The team will get back to work on Mini-game Monday, and look ahead to a tentatively scheduled game against local rival Northwest Catholic on Tuesday (to be confirmed ASAP). If you have a quiet moment in the next few days, or perhaps a Canadian beeswax candle or two to light or maybe an old wooden stick or a lock of Gump Worsley’s hair to offer as a token to the deities of the dump and deke, the team would welcome the help. We will hope for a better, more reverent effort in our next tilt. See you at the rink!