Martlets Fall to Taft

The Martlets dropped a competitive game against the Rhinos this afternoon, as more consistent play in the offensive end simply did not translate into goals on the board. The Black & Gold were on the road, making the trip through the Litchfield Hills to Watertown. Playing in the classic Mays Rink at Taft, the Martlets played with good energy from the opening puck drop. Though the JVs had the bulk of the possession and opportunities in the first period, it was Taft who seized the early lead, scoring on a short pass from below the goal line to the front of netminder Danny Maher ‘26. The JVs were probably guilty of a little puck-watching on that one, as defenders lost the man in the slot before the goal. Undaunted, the Martlets renewed their attack, but to no avail: again it was the Rhinos who found the back of the net on a scramble late in the first to make it a 0-2 lead. That’s how the first period ended, and Westminster gathered themselves in the locker room before the second, hoping to tighten up their coverage in the defensive end and find a way to cash in on their good efforts in the offensive end. But a penalty early in the middle frame led to a Taft powerplay, and the home side made good on the opportunity to increase their lead to 0-3. The second period was a tough one for the Marlets, as they found themselves killing off five more, consecutive penalties – all told that’s eight minutes of penalty killing in a single 16-minute period. Tough to climb back in the game in that situation, and it was clearly not the Martlets afternoon with the men in stripes (all in, the generally lightly-penalized JVs had nine penalties to Taft’s two for the game). But through the great effort of the Westminster penalty killers – notably Auggie Jiranek ‘27, Paul Coccaro ‘28, Zac Jainchill ‘25, Chace Maurice ‘27, and Tyler Ungerman ‘26, among many others – the team was able to claw their way to the end of the second down only by that three-goal margin. This old coach knows that that much time in the penalty box can blunt any team's attack, no matter how hard the players work, and that was the story of the second stanza. The third period began much like the game, with the Black & Gold taking the initiative. Successive strong shifts from all four lines put pressure on the capable Rhino goalie, who ultimately had 24 saves for the game. But this good play, too, frustratingly came to naught, and it was Taft who got the next two goals to put the Martlets in a 0-5 hole. That deficit and the tenor of the game overall would have unnerved many teams, but to their credit, the Martlets kept working and grinding out their shifts. Finally, with nine minutes to go in the game Westminster broke through: Benji Hanson ‘27 came crashing down from the point and grabbed a rebound of a Mikey Wang ‘28 shot to make it 1-5. Dylan Zapata ‘27 also assisted on the play, digging the puck out of the corner and feeding Wang at the near point. Continuing to play hard, the Martlets got the next goal as well. This time, with seven minutes to go, it was Captain Ben Norten ‘25 who fired the puck from the slot over the left shoulder of the Taft goalie. That tally came after a strong shift; Captain Jack Peterson ’25 and linemate Xavier Kahn ‘27 earned assists on Norten’s goal. While it was certainly satisfying to play well and get those two goals in the third, the coaches felt as if the team deserved more. The game was evenly played, and Westminster had plenty of sustained moments of good offensive zone possession – but the team struggled to finish. The coaches were pleased, too, that the defensive play improved as the game went on. Dylan Seals ‘25, Thomas Merrill ‘28, and Wang ‘28 all had good games on the blue line. Maher contributed 21 saves, including some strong ones in key moments. Peterson earned the hard hat for his consistent effort and leadership. Coccaro had the honor of handing off the hard hat; he earned it at Trinity-Pawling last Saturday – which was regrettably left out of that game report. Overall, despite the result, it was a positive step forward for the team. The Martlets will have little time to rest and will need to get right back to work as the Hillside Hawks fly into Jackson Rink on Friday afternoon, and then the team is back on the road for a tilt against the Salisbury Crimson Knights on Saturday. Both games promise to be spirited affairs, so clear your calendars, get a babysitter, and gas up the car. We’ll see you at the rink!