They say that a tie is like kissing your sister, however, with Williston trailing the Brunswick Bruins with eighteen minutes remaining in the game, it was more like kissin’ the gal next door. Williston was down 4-2 with a period remaining when clutch play by the Wildcats tied the game with eleven minutes remaining. Five minutes of overtime could not solve the tie and Williston would head into the Christmas Holiday, 3-5-1.
Williston got on the board early in the first half when, off a faceoff on the left side in the offensive zone, Brendan Nehmer won a draw back to the pride of Pittsford, NY, Zac Gmerek, who put the puck deep into the corner. Winger David Novotny retreated from the front of the net, picked up the puck and shoveled a quick pass to a waiting Jake Sacratini who was three feet off the left post and snuck a quick redirect that found a hole through the Brunswick goalie, Dan Dachille. Brunswick would answer on the power play nine minutes later.
Shaul Mitton made it a 2-1 game when he busted down the right side of the ice, crossed over the Bruin blueline and let a wrist shot fly from the tops of the circle beating Dachille on the far post. It was Shaul’s fourth goal of the season at the 13:02 mark of the game. But alas, Brunswick again would respond on the power play three minutes later. The teams would head in to the dressing room knotted at twos.
Brunswick came out smoking in the second half and went up 4-2. Williston called a time out with eighteen minutes remaining in the half. In the short respite, Coach Derek Cunha spoke confidently reminding the team that they still had a period left to score two goals. If they could get the two, they could win it in overtime. Rejuvenated, Williston started to claw back when Brunswick chipped a puck to the Williston blueline and changed. Immediately, Alex Berg retrieved the puck and sent a quick pass to Novotny who was cutting into the Brunswick zone. Number 10 looked up and let a laser go that beat Dachille over the glove and into the top right corner cutting the lead to one at the 12:27 mark.
Then, under two minutes later, Tyler Varin chipped a puck in to the neutral zone where it ping-ponged between players; finally James Belleavoine corralled it and skated into the Brunswick zone on a two-on-one with Cam Marianni driving toward the net. Belleavoine floated a pass over the Bruin’s defenseman’s stick and Mariani put just enough sauce on the shot to beat Dachille.
The game would remain tied throughout regulation and into overtime. Both teams had opportunities but to no avail. Shots were 27/26 in favor of Brunswick.
Williston is off until the night of December 27th when they will meet up at Nobles for a quick practice and then take on St. Sebastian’s in Needham at 11 am the following day. Fans will remember that last year, the Wildcats went down 3-0 in the first period only to score four straight to beat the Arrows 4-3 in overtime. The following day, Williston takes on the number 7-ranked Nobles Bulldogs at noon. Williston took last year’s game 3-2.
So, from the Williston hockey family to yours, we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!