by Team Reporter Nate Gordon ’16
With the game tied at two to start the third period against Winchendon (4-10-2) on Friday night, Williston Boys Hockey (6-6-1) took control of the game, scoring three goals in the first five minutes of the period.
With this win the Wildcats bring their record back to .500. This is significant considering that Williston had a 1-5 record on December 19th. Since that date, the Wildcats have defeated Northwood Junior, Winchendon, St. Sebastian’s, and Worcester, and Winchendon again today.
The Wildcats got some of their best scoring opportunities in the first period, but they were unable to get their sticks on the puck when it was in front of WInchendon’s net. Sophomore and first-line forward Nick Schofield left the game during the first period after getting hit in the neutral zone and did not return. He was on crutches after the game with an apparent knee injury.
Schofield’s injury gave the Wildcats an extra motivation to win this game. Williston understood that undisciplined retaliation would not help them win. As Williston Head Coach Derek Cunha said after the first period, “Let’s make this a hockey game, it isn’t going to be a wrestling match.”
Senior forward and team captain Rourke Ferguson returned today after sitting out two games with an injury.
Both teams scored two goals in the second period, with Winchendon getting on the board first. After junior forward Jack Kelly scored Williston’s first goal, senior forward Brandon Bork added the second on the power play.
About his team’s play with the man-advantage, Bork said after the game, “The power play was buzzing, we were working the puck around, throwing pucks on net and we’re just finding the easy goals..”
Just 2:15 into the final eighteen minutes, junior forward Jack Kelly scored his second goal of the game to give the Wildcats the lead. Just over a minute later, Bork scored his second of the game on the power play to give the Wildcats a two-goal lead. And 5:02 into the third, senior forward Jack Gethings hit the top corner of the net to give the Wildcats a 5-2 lead and put the game out of reach for the Wapitis.
Kelly said after the game, “First and second periods the pucks weren’t going in for us. In the third period we found a way to get the job done and put the puck in the net.”
Senior forward and team captain Tyler Scroggins recorded four points tonight, assists on the team’s first four goals. Junior goaltender Shane Mason was very solid in net for the Wildcats stopping 28 of 30 (.933) shots.
Tomorrow, Saturday, January, 17th, the Wildcats will take on the Berkshire Bears on the road. This game will be a rematch of last Saturday’s game between these two teams which ended in a tie. On Wednesday, Berkshire defeated Northfield-Mt. Hermon 5-3. The game is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m.
Stay tuned to the team’s Twitter feed @WillistonHockey for continuous game updates tomorrow.