By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
In another installment of the Walpole-Natick rivalry on Saturday night, the Timberwolves battled to a 1-1 tie to move their record to 6-7-3.
“We knew [this] was a big game,” said senior Joe Finkelstein. “We just had a tough loss last game versus Milton. Natick’s a good team this year, so we had to be ready to go.”
The first period didn’t see any goals but Walpole displayed a good defensive effort and had several opportunities in the attacking zone. The Red Hawks found a one-on-one opportunity but goalie Mike Roof made a tremendous save to keep the game scoreless. On the other end, senior Ryan Lania almost tipped in a pass from fellow captain Paul Whelan, but the puck did not find the back of the net. Walpole Head Coach Ron Dowd chimed in on how his team can turn opportunities into more scores.
“We gotta get in the dirty areas,” said Dowd. “[There was] too much perimeter stuff. If we want to score a goal, we gotta get to the dirty spots and there was too much outside by the boards.”
The second period saw two power plays for the Timberwolves, but not much production came out of them. In between the two advantages, Natick managed to score to gain a one goal lead. Despite letting up the goal, Roof made a couple more one-on-one saves throughout the game and was a main reason Walpole was able to keep things close.
“[Roof] gives us a chance to win every night. He’s not giving up the cheap goal. He’s square to the puck; he’s competing. When he does that, he’s effective and he’s certainly been effective the last month or so.”
The Red Hawks started the third frame fast but a penalty halfway through killed their momentum. After a couple more chances to score, Walpole was finally able to crack the scoreboard with just under four minutes left in the game with a goal from Finkelstein.
“I went to the front of the net, [the puck] popped out and luckily it came right to me and I was able to finish it,” said Finkelstein.
With the game tied up at zero, Natick threatened Walpole’s defense but the Timberwolves were able to fend off the attack, forcing overtime.
A back-and-forth overtime saw a strong effort from Walpole, but it wasn’t enough, as they settled for a tie. With the end of the regular season right around the corner, its schedule doesn’t get any easier.
“We [have] played a tough schedule so far,” said Dowd. “I think 17 out of the 20 teams that [we will have played are] gonna be in the tournament, maybe 18 – 15 are in the top 20. We just gotta continue getting better every single day and competing. We [have] to come to the office every day and get better.”
The Timberwolves had its final away game on Sunday against Marshfield and wrap up their regular season with three home games at Cadillac Ice Arena.
