Williston headed out on their eighth straight road trip on Wednesday to take on a much improved Worcester Hilltopper club at the Worcester Ice Center. Xander Rogers got the nod for the Wildcats and was excellent when he needed to be. Williston dominated much of the play but a stingy Nathan Pickett in goal for Worcester had Williston in fits for two periods. It wasn’t until early in the third that Williston was able to tie the game and then pull away.
Williston came out in the first period with solid pressure controlling much of the play. While they outshot Worcester 18-5 in the period, Williston’s shot selection was not daunting and Pickett had easy work for many of the opportunities and frustrated the Williston offense. With time running out in the first and a Williston power play nearing an end, an errant pass was picked off by a Worcester forward at the Williston blue line who then stormed toward Rogers and was able to beat him on the short side. Williston was stunned after territorially dominating the play. However, with just 33 seconds remaining in the period, Williston looked to tie up the game on a tipped shot by Cam Jefferson. However, the referees were forced to confer due to the net being off its moorings. The Williston coaching staff failed to get the officials to see their way and soon after the goal was called off. Williston entered the end of the period licking its wounds and hoping for a change in the second.
In the next frame, both Williston and Worcester traded power play opportunities with Williston gaining the edge in calls for. But much to the chagrin of the Williston faithful, the Wildcats could not find the back of the net. Rogers made some key saves and kept the score within one.
After a Saban-esque speech between the second and third period, Williston began the period on the warpath and five minutes into the frame Kyle Caddo drove from behind the net, used his Shaquille O’Neal-like reach and finally broke the enigma in net. Brandon McGill earned the assist. A little over two minutes later, McGill found his scoring ways tipping a blast from Logan Geisness off a pass from Tim Rego on the power play. Williston was finding the light. Then, four minutes later Caddo made a pass out of the left corner that McGill put in. Caddo was not done. Having been sick of seeing a zero next to his name in the points’ column, he decided to make a dandy pass to James Belleavoine who let a ripper go from the slot securing the win, 4-1.
Xander Rogers faced 21 shots but Williston outshot the Hilltoppers, with 38. Kyle Caddo did New Jersey proud by earning the game “pen” for his work (1g, 2a). (Worcester game pucks were impossible to come by at the sound of the buzzer.)
On Friday, Williston completed its 9th straight road game at Winchendon. Kayaks were needed at times for the rains were plenty and the creeks were running like the mighty Genesee River in springtime in Upstate New York. With under an hour to get ready, Williston took the ice behind a willing and able Greg Iverson who had defeated Winchendon in a shootout at the St. Sebastian’s Tournament at Christmas. Iverson continued his run defeating the Wapitis 3-2 behind a 25 save performance.
Williston entered the campaign ready to manage a game against a high-powered offense whose top line had scored 31 points in its last three games. With a strict game plan and a disciplined core of players, Williston took a 1-0 lead when Logan Geisness took a pass from behind the net from Billy Smith and buried it past Winchendon goalie, James Corcoran. Connor Canterbury would get the second assist.
In the second, Hunter Sarro scored an unassisted goal when he stripped a puck away from a defender at the Winchendon blueline and rifled a shot that beat Corcoran to the blocker side. Winchendon would get a greasy power play goal from a shot that deflected off a Williston defender beating Iverson. However, thanks to some nifty passing and puck control, Sam Milnes and Canterbury were able to find Kevin Lassman—the Florida Kid—in the slot who beat Corcoran cleanly. While Lassman’s celebration looked like a surfer on roller skates—Williston was happy and took a 3-1 lead into the dressing room.
Winchendon would get another goal in the third period but Williston was up to the challenge defeating Winchendon 3-2. For his efforts and the game winner, Hunter Sarro earned the game puck.
On Saturday afternoon, the Lossone faithful welcomed back its club when Williston took on Berkshire to complete its two-game season series. Williston came out guns blazing and outplayed Berkshire for much of the first period. At the 4:14 mark of the period, Billy Smith took a puck just inside the right circle and let go a bomb that beat Berkshire goalie Tom Draper high on the blocker side.
In the second period, Williston built onto its lead when Sam Milnes was able to send David Novotny in on a breakaway beating Draper low on the blocker side. Then, just under two minutes later on the power play, Brendan Hansen went thin mints on the right hand side finding daylight over Draper’s shoulder. Berkshire would get a goal late in the second period but Williston would take a 3-1 lead into the dressing room at the end of the second.
In the third, Williston played some stingy defense keeping Berkshire off the board for the remainder of the game. Post-grad Cam Jefferson sealed the deal with 15:18 left in the frame when he nipped top corner. The Belmont native flew down the left side and let a shot go from inside the dot. The defensive pair of Connor Power and Tim Rego received the assists. For his efforts, Jefferson earned the game puck. Xander Rogers stopped 24/25 shots.
Make sure to dust off your snowmobile on Wednesday as Williston takes on the Vermont Wildcats at Lossone at 4:30. Tickets are selling out fast.