The Williston boy’s hockey team kicked off its 2019-2020 season on Wednesday against the Avon Old Farms Winged Beavers.  The Wildcats looked to take their third straight opener from Avon but it was not to be as the boys from Connecticut took the game, 4-2.

Things looked like they were going to get off to a great start as Williston buried its first shot on net when junior David Novotny of Boca Raton, Florida made a pass to a wide-open Jake Sacratini—a senior from Montreal, Quebec—beating Connor Callaghan over the blocker.  Avon  tied it up five minutes later and then took the lead at the 17:01 mark of the first period, first beating senior goalie, Trevor Corsello (Selden, NY) off a rebound and then on a hard wrist shot across the grain on a one-on-one.  Truth be told, Williston was caught in slow motion in a dash for the door and Avon took it to them in the first period. It was Corsello who pulled out as many stops as he could making nineteen saves including a diving, cross-crease save that brought the fans of Lossone Arena to its feet.

Avon would get two goals in the second period but were met by a much grittier Williston team who had many opportunities but couldn’t finish.  The period ended, 4-1.

Williston began to find its ways even more in the third and finally got on the board for their second of the game when junior Alex Latkovski from Westmount, Quebec made a pass to senior Matt Pimental (East Providence, Rhode Island) who stepped over the blue line and let a low rocket go beating Callaghan again.  Williston would get a few power plays in the third, including a 5×3 and a 6×5 at the end of the game but could not finish.  When the horn sounded after fifty-four minutes, Avon had taken the game, 4-2.

Shots in the game were 34 for Avon and 18 for Williston.

Williston heads to northwestern Connecticut on Saturday evening for a foray with the NEPSAC Open Division runners-up, the Salisbury Scarlet Knights at 5:00 in Salisbury, Connecticut.