By Max Clifford
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Saturday evening saw the final preseason tune-up for Westwood Boys Varsity Ice Hockey as they hosted Walpole at the Canton Ice House. The Wolverines outpaced the Timberwolves by a score of 4-1 in the scrimmage.
After Walpole opened up the scoring with just over 15 minutes to play in the 25-minute half, Westwood took to the offensive attack to even the score. Sean Blomquist fired one past the Timberwolves’ goaltender to get the Wolverines on the board.
With just three minutes before the halftime break, Westwood’s Thomas Morgan got a shot to go from near the blue line. The crowd at the ice house - a sizeable showing for an exhibition -erupted with cheers at the late explosion from Westwood.
“[For] a lot of those guys it was their first time the other night so now they’re kind of up to speed,” Westwood head coach Matt Sebet said after the scrimmage. “That led to getting the pucks on the net, playing the offensive zone, and putting up a few more goals.”
With both teams having gone nearly a year without live action on the ice, the physicality was on display throughout. However, the extracurriculars began to catch up with the Timberwolves in the second half. A major penalty early in the second half gave Westwood a five-minute power play, which they turned into a third score courtesy of Max O’Brien.
Sebet was pleased with his team’s response to the physicality from Walpole, saying “I’m really proud of the discipline. There were definitely some runs out there tonight and our guys hung with that, took it, and beat them on the scoreboard where it counts.”
After letting up a score in the tenth minute, the Westwood goalkeeping trio of Joe Salcedo, CJ Hancock, and Jack Holland held the Timberwolves scoreless for the remaining 40 minutes.
“They saw a good amount of pucks from some guys who can play over on Walpole. I’m proud of the way they hung in there and fought all night,” Sebet said.
Westwood will travel to Holliston on Saturday, December 16 for their first road test of the season.
