[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Following a tough 4-0 defeat at the hands of Natick on February 18, the Wellesley High School varsity hockey team returned home to Babson on Wednesday to conclude the 2016-2017 regular season against non-conference opponent Waltham (11-6-4).
The Raiders (14-5-1, 12-4-0) found themselves down early on Wednesday and on the verge of losing their second in a row. However, Wellesley battled back to tie the game late thanks to the clutch efforts of Liam Morgan and Zack Doughty, and the band of Raiders ended the regular season with another point in their back pocket by earning the 3-3 draw and improving their chances of earning a high seed in the State Tournament.
After Waltham went ahead 2-0 midway through the first period, Liam Morgan cut the deficit in half with a goal off of a rebound to make it a 2-1 game at the first intermission.
Despite numerous scoring opportunities for Wellesley in the second period, Waltham ended up tallying the only goal of the period to extend their lead to 3-1 at the second intermission.
The Raiders entered the third period knowing they had to play more aggressively on the fore-check and cause disruption in the Waltham end in order to generate more scoring opportunities.
That is exactly what Paul Donato’s team did.
After intercepting a breakout pass and working it down low in the corner, senior forward Nathan Brown drove to the net following a shot from the point. Brown corralled the bouncing puck and fired it through the legs of the Waltham goaltender to once again make it a one-goal game at 3-2 with eight minutes to play in regulation.
Just over four minutes following the Brown goal, Wellesley senior captain and defenseman Zack Doughty came through again for the Raiders, similar to the way he did against Needham a week earlier when he scored the game-winning goal with under two minutes to play in a 3-1 comeback win. After the Raiders were able to set up in the offensive zone, Doughty crept in from the point and fired home a one-timer from the hash marks to tie the game at three. Wellesley then went into full attack mode in search of the go-ahead goal, but were unable to crack the Waltham goaltender for a fourth time, as the game ended in a 3-3 tie.
The Raiders will now enjoy a week of rest before competing in the MIAA State Tournament.
