[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Following a 1-1 tie with Ashland and a tough 2-0 defeat to rival Holliston, the Dover-Sherborn Regional High School varsity boys hockey team hosted TVL newcomer Dedham last Wednesday night at Chase Arena in Natick.
Thanks in large part to a pair of goals by sophomore defenseman Zachary Popiel, the Raiders (5-5-2, 3-4-2) earned a convincing 6-1 win to climb back to .500 on the season, all while serving up some bittersweet revenge to the Marauders (2-9-1, 2-7-1), who blanked DS, 4-0, on January 7.
At 6:10 of the first period, senior forward Nishan Avedekian fired home a goal to give the Raiders an early 1-0 lead. Exactly three minutes later with 5:50 to play in the period, Zach Popiel’s first of the game on a shot from the point doubled the DS lead to 2-0 at the first intermission.
With 2:09 to play in the second period, senior forward and captain Cole Condon potted home the rebound on a net-mouth scramble to give DS a commanding 3-0 lead. Dedham responded with a goal at 14:57 to cut the deficit to 3-1 at the end of two periods.
A common phrase used around rinks is that “two-goal leads are the worst leads in hockey,” but the way the Raiders played in the third period on Wednesday night completely went against that theory.
Just 3:20 into the third, freshman forward Standish Carothers one-timed a shot home via a pass by fellow freshman forward Tommy Higgins to extend the lead to 4-1. With five minutes remaining, Will Rooney got a bit of puck luck as the freshman fired a shot that redirected off of a Marauder in front and into the back of the net to push the lead to 5-1. With a little over two minutes to play, Popiel added the exclamation point with his second goal of the evening to extend the lead to five goals. The clock hit zeroes and DS prevailed by the 6-1 final.
At the time of print, DS will look to climb above .500 when the Raiders square off with conference-leading Hopkinton on January 24 before hosting Norton on January 27.
For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0, or read his blog at www.flannylive.wordpress.com.
