Williston’s Prayers Answered—Wildcats Beat Saints, 7-2; Drops Decision to the Doors 

Seniors Tommy Harty and Jake Sacratini both had four-point nights on Wednesday as they helped lead Williston past Canterbury with a hat trick and an assist and a goal and a playmaker, respectively.  Williston played a complete game in all zones of the ice and took a decisive, 7-2 victory. 

Sacratini got on the board early when a hard forecheck by Harty forced a Canterbury defenseman to cough make an errant pass from the corner of the defensive zone to an awaiting Sacratini who intercepted the pass at the hash marks and walked in beating Cal Skwara on the far post.  Harty got his first goal of the night on the power play when Sacratini got the puck on the halfwall in the Canterbury zone, touched a pass to Tyler Varin who got the puck to the other half-wall to Will Tripp.  Tripp then found a wide open Harty, who has set up residence in the high slot on power plays, and who drilled a one-timer past Skwara.  Canterbury got a goal late in the period to get it within one. 

In the second, Williston got on a role.  The first goal came when Charlie Monteith worked a puck up the wall to d-man, Mitch Hansen, who let a blast go that was saved by Skwara but that was batted in by Matt Pimental from his belly.  Shaul Mitton got the fourth Williston goal off a sweet draw from Ryan Deschamps that landed right on his stick.  The senior winger let the howitzer go that was deflected by a Canterbury d, past Skwara.  Harty got his second of the game on the power play when Sacratini again, got the puck from Varin who let one fly from the point.  (He will be leading a youth hockey clinic on shooting in the coming weeks.  Ask him about it.)  The rebound bounced onto Harty’s stick and while the initial shot was blocked, he gathered his own rebound and tucked in a nifty backhand.  The period would end with Williston up, 5-1. 

Alex Latkovski put the ‘Cats up 6-1 when Harty won a draw to the corner, put sustained pressure on the Canterbury defenseman who tried to make a pass to his d-partner.  Latkovski intercepted the pass on the near post, corralled the puck to the front of the net and, with his long reach, beat Skwara on the far post.  Williston got their final goal of the game when Canterbury drove into the Williston zone on the power play and coughed up the puck near Williston goalie, Emile Savoie.  Will Tripp cleared the puck to Sacratini in the slot and the speedy winger cruised into the Canterbury zone and hit Harty with a backhand saucer pass that the captain buried garnering him the hat trick for the afternoon.  Canterbury would score with 1.4 seconds left but Williston took the win.  Savoie earned the win kicking out 39 saves.  The game puck went to Harty for his four-point night. 

On Friday night, Williston traveled up Route 91 to Deerfield for an evening soiree with the Green Doors.  The game was riddled with penalties and Williston took the loss, dropping the contest, 6-2.   

Deerfield came out flying at the opening of the first period stirring their already raucous crowd into a frenzy and scoring just a minute into the game.  Williston answered ten minutes later when Brandon Barrett knocked a puck from the side of the Deerfield net to Charlie Monteith behind the net.  Monteith drove to the opposite corner and slipped a puck to the slot where Matt Pimental took one-timer that beat Deerfield goalie, Justin Prete, over the glove.  The period ended, 1-1. 

In the second, Williston went up 2-1 when Varin sent a backhand pass from his own zone to sophomore Ryan Deschamps at the Deerfield blueline.  Deschamps drove to the net with Connor Hagness streaking to the post.  Deschamps tried to make the pass but it was gathered in the gut by the sprawling Deerfield d-man.  With poise, Deschamps collected the puck and put a soft backhander over the glove of Prete.  The fire was on the mountain and the Wildcats were feeling good about the direction they were headed.  However, a number of penalties cost the Wildcats even strength opportunities and, ultimately, the game, losing 6-2. 

The game was the inaugural game of the Pioneer Valley Prep Cup, a game-by-game “tournament” between Pioneer Valley schools Deerfield, Northfield Mount Herman, and Williston.  The format will be as follows: whatever school possesses the cup when two of the three teams play, the cup will be on the line.  Since Deerfield won the game, they now possess the cup until next year when they play NMH early in the season.  It is possible that the cup could be pass through the three teams during one season if, every time the cup is up for grabs, the other team wins.   

Williston had the weekend off and will travel to Albany Academy on Wednesday afternoon for a four o’clock tilt.   

 

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