By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The Raiders got back to their winning ways Friday night as they topped Holliston/Ashland 3-2. It was their first win since December 18 and has them sitting at a 4-4-2 record.
The team did not get off to a hot start spending just about all of the first several minutes on defense. They set themselves back with a penalty at the 11:38 point, but a smooth penalty kill came with a change in momentum for the Raiders.
“You could feel it on the bench,” said senior Hunter Hourihan on the momentum shift. “We got going a little more and it tilted the ice our way.”
Hourihan was the beneficiary of the momentum swing, scoring the first goal of the game ten minutes into action. With 1:21 to go before the buzzer, Holliston/Ashland got their first penalty of the game.
Two of the Raiders’ leaders delivered while having the advantage when alternative captain Andrew Cahill’s pass was deflected into the net by captain Sam Hinckley, giving Dover-Sherborn/Weston a 2-0 lead.
“I think previously, we’ve been trying to get too cute,” said Marlow on his team’s offensive approach. “I’ve just been trying to tell them ‘in the game of hockey, anything can happen when you put the puck on net. Put a low, smart shot [and] anything can happen.’ And that happened on Sam Hinckley’s power play goal.”
After 13 seconds into the second period, the Raiders found themselves on the wrong side of a power play. The Panthers cut their deficit to one with a goal just under a minute into their five on four advantage.
About four minutes later, the Raiders committed another penalty. This time they were able to hold off the Panthers. Goalie William Goldstein made a great save in which he fully extended his glove side arm to snatch the puck out of the air.
“Penalties are something we talked about at the end of the game,” said Marlow. “That’s gonna kill us. We’re not a deep team, so if you take one of our guys away, it completely changes our roster… So we just need to play smart hockey. I want hockey players. I don’t need tough guys.”
Following another Panthers penalty, Hourihan found the back of the net for the second time with a loose puck gliding in front of him and a one-timer going top right for the score.
It was just 20 seconds later that Holliston answered with a goal of their own, making it a 3-2 game.
The Raiders spent most of the third period on offense and never faced a real threat from Holliston/Ashland en route to the win. Sights are now set on keeping the winning going against Hopkinton.
“It doesn’t get any easier – Hopkinton, Dedham, Norwood to round out the [Tri-Valley League Large],” said Marlow. “Hopkinton always gives us a good game. They’re a great program [and have] a great coach. We just gotta stick within our game plan, within ourselves and stay out of the time box.”
