Martlets Defeat Williston

The Martlets welcomed the Wildcats to Jackson Rink this afternoon for the marquee event on the schedule. The hometown faithful were not disappointed as the Black & Gold, significantly depleted by illness and injury, skated to a hard-fought 4-3 victory over a physical Williston team. With only 14 skaters, and many not feeling 100% but demonstrating the grit this organization prides itself on, the team met the intensity of the visitors and held on for the victory. Goalie Danny Maher ‘26 had a strong game, turning aside 20 Wildcat shots to anchor the defensive end of the ice. The game opened in spirited fashion, with Williston establishing right away that they intended to push the Martlets around. Two power plays in the opening period came to naught as the JV power play could not figure out the riddle of the Wildcat keeper, who had a strong game that featured 25 saves, including several in quick succession and more than a few that looked like sure Westminster tallies. The 1st period was back-and-forth but ended knotted at 0-0, though the coaches felt the Black & Gold overall had the balance of the play. The first few shifts of the 2nd stanza, however, were all Williston, as they pushed the home side hard in their own end. But Maher was equal to the task and managed to keep the visitors off the scoreboard. It was the Martlets who broke the tie. Midway through the period, Xavier Kahn ‘27 opened the scoring for the JVs, picking up a loose puck along the near boards and stepping around the Wildcat defender before firing the puck over the outstretched glove of the keeper. Thomas Merrill ‘28 assisted on the play, having won a puck battle along the boards and finding Kahn. Both sides had their chances in the ensuing minutes, but it was Williston who finally forced the puck past Maher, scoring on a rebound off a shot from the point with just over a minute to go in the period. The Martlets, however, quickly responded and regained the lead less than thirty seconds later when Dylan Ness ‘27 slammed home a perfect feed from Paul Coccaro ‘28 in front of the net. Coccaro had won the puck behind the Wildcat net before wheeling around the near post and feeding Ness. That goal came with only 21 seconds to go in the period and was an important one. With that tight Westminster lead, the teams caught their breath and prepared for the decisive 3rd period. The Martlets renewed their attack and took advantage of a Williston penalty to make it 3-1 less than a minute into the final frame. This time Coccaro was the beneficiary of a perfect Dylan Zapata pas on the power play: Zapata had the puck up on the blue line, and as Coccaro found a gap between two Wildcat defenders, placed a perfect pass on Coccaro’s stick just off the far post for a nifty deflection behind the Williston goalie. With the momentum, Westminster continued to press. But this old coach knows that a 2-goal lead is the most dangerous lead in hockey, and a careless turnover just inside the Williston blue line gifted the visitors a breakaway against Maher with 10 minutes to go in the game. The Wildcat attacker outraced his Martlet pursuers and deked left, then right before lifting the puck over Maher. With the score now 3-2, both sides played hard: Westminster to regain their lead and Williston searching for the equalizer. Both teams had their chances, and both goalies flashed the leather and held their goal lines. With less than four minutes to go, and the short Martlet bench clearly tired, Zapata picked up a pass from Ness in the Westminster end, carried the puck through neutral ice and beat his defender to the outside before cutting inside to the crease and sliding the biscuit under the netminder’s pads. That made it 4-2 and proved to be the game-winning goal. The feisty visitors certainly didn’t quit and threw everything they had against the Black & Gold end. Two late penalties by the tired Martlets meant fully three of the final six minutes of the game were played man-down by the JVs, but the defense and Maher held. The Wildcats did manage to make it 4-3 with 56 seconds on the clock and their goalie on the bench – and Westminster firmly bottled up in the defensive end. But a crafty time out by the coaching staff to rest some legs and get the right personnel on the ice stopped the Wildcat surge and preserved the victory. This was a team win, and everybody contributed: dependable Reed Ghriskey ‘27 and Lester Gu ‘28 played well throughout, and Gu in particular contributed a strong defensive play in the waning seconds. The line of Auggie Jiranek ‘27, Henry Baird ‘26, and Zac Jainchill ‘25, though not on the scorecard, played good defense and stood tall in several critical situations. Hard-pressed blueliners Merrill, Carsten Matthews ‘28, Lane Gallagher ‘25, Mikey Wang ‘28, and Chace Maurice ‘27 battled for the full 48 minutes against this physical opponent. Shout out, too, to backup goalie Nick Lopriore ‘27, just back from illness, whose vocal and inspiring support for the team is always appreciated. The post-game locker room celebration was appropriately a full-team event. The hard hat went to Cocarro for his grit throughout: aside from a goal and an assist, he stuck his nose in against all comers, even though they were often well outside his weight class. The team will rest and recuperate, but be right back at it tomorrow – and hopefully, some of our IR players will be back with us. There’s no letup in the competitive Founders League, and the Martlets will make the long trip to Kent on Saturday to face the always-hungry Lions. A word to the traveling fans: the Kent rink can be a cold one, so bundle up, toss the throw blanket in the car,  and bring a thermos of the good stuff. We’ll see you at the rink!