By Avonlea Cummings
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
The Dover-Sherborn/ Weston boys hockey team competed in a non-league competition against Hopedale High last Monday, February 12th. The Raiders came out on top of Hopedale polishing the night off with a 4-1 final score. Dover-Sherborn/ Weston are now 16-4 in their season and will be preparing for their next post-season action.
As the first period commenced, Hopedale pressed on to the DS and Weston boys challenging their defense immediately on the ice. For DS, the boys were reaching to match Hopedale’s energy but seemed to come onto the ice a bit flat. However, DS and Weston’s senior captain goalie, Andrew Goldstein was focused on any shots that Hopedale hoped to make, and Goldstein denied any of their chances throughout the period. Both teams closed the first period null 0-0.
The action began to pick up in the second period almost immediately as the Dover-Sherborn and Weston boys came out onto the ice with a bit more spark underneath their skates. Just over a minute into the second period, Dover-Sherborn and Weston’s junior Brayden McKenna launched the first goal of the evening into the back of Hopedale’s net with 13:15 left to go. McKenna’s goal was assisted by senior captains Andrew Marden and Sawyer Garzone. The DS and Weston boys continued to fight on the ice, passing the puck with speed and urgency. DS and Weston’s Max Niit begin ripping shots onto Hopedale’s goalie, but his first went wide. Not backing down, Niit would strike again, after slipping past Hopedale’s defense and snipped the second goal of the evening for the DS and Weston boys with assists from freshman Christos Rogaris and junior Brayden McKenna. The DS-Weston would take the lead 2-0 and carry the lead for the rest of the period. The minutes of the period were dwindling but DS/Weston would get a penalty kill on their hands, and go 5 on 3. Hopedale kept badgering to get a point on the scoreboard looking to capitalize on their powerplay, and with two minutes to go in the second, Hopedale snuck past DS and Weston’s tight defense to knock a point into the net, narrowing the score 2-1 at the end of the second period.
Headed into the third period, the boys were keeping possession of the puck to the best of their ability. With just over ten minutes left to go in the third period, senior captain Calvin Roman whipped the puck making a connecting pass towards senior captain Sawyer Garzone, and Garzone rapidly swiped the puck into his possession and cleared it into the back of the net signifying DS/Weston’s third goal of the night. The teams continued to race across the ice looking for more scoring opportunities in their zones, and the DS and Weston boys would strike once more for the evening as Sawyer Garzone and Max Niit aligned the perfect assisted passes to Brayden McKenna, McKenna slammed the puck into the net to secure the 4-1 win that evening.
Head coach Alex Marlow shared how the team was able to rise above their flat start and make their presence known on the ice in the second and third periods: “We are not a fan of Monday games, sometimes you just gotta play them, it’s tough to come off the weekend; especially because we had a big game Saturday for the conference. The guys knew they were flat, and we knew if we were going to get back into this game, we knew we had to start hitting and throwing their bodies around, and they listened. The first three shifts of the second period really changed the ice a little bit. Being able to change on the fly for our mindset was big,” said Marlow.
