Watertown, MA – The John A Ryan arena was a packed house today for the New Year’s Day matchup between the co-op team the Raiders of Watertown/Wayland and the Hawks of Waltham High School.
Both teams got off to a bit of a slow start in this one, with each team feeling out the game’s pace. But it didn’t take long for Waltham to tilt the ice in their favor as they carried most of the offensive zone time. Watertown /Wayland senior goalie Patrick Johnson-Ciano was busy early and often and made multiple key saves to keep the Hawks off the board. But with 3:28 to go, Waltham junior Max Polipas fired a shot from the side wall that was kicked out to the slot. Junior Tim O’Toole collected it and snapped it home past Johnson-Ciano to give his team the 1-0 lead. The Hawks would add to their lead a minute later when sophomore defenseman Bill Champion hit senior forward assistant captain Shant Gebeyan with a stretch pass. Gebeyan carried the puck into Watertown/Wayland’s zone, took a quick snap shot at the top of the circle and beat Johnson-Ciano high glove side. Waltham carried the play and ended the period up 2-0.
The second period was more of the same with Waltham carrying most of the play. Watertown/Wayland slowed them down a bit but had few answers once they entered their zone. Waltham did a good job cycling the puck low to high, getting traffic to the net and pucks on net through screens. Johnson-Ciano did a good job tracking pucks and keeping his team in the game. Waltham’s forecheck made it tough on Watertown/Wayland to have clean breakouts and pinned them in their zone. With 5:53 left in the second, it would pay off. Senior captain Dylan McClay stole a puck on the forecheck and made a nice behind-the-back pass to senior assistant captain Carlo Attardo who was driving the net. Attardo slid the puck to Gebeyan who was on the back door. Gebeyan banged it home for his second of the game and Waltham’s third. Two minutes later, Gebeyan would complete the hat trick. With Waltham on the power play, junior defenseman Brendan Losier fired a shot from the top of the umbrella that was kicked out right on the stick of Gebeyan, he one-timed it into the empty net for his third of the game and Waltham’s fourth giving them the 4-0 lead. Not to be outdone, Watertown/Wayland went on the power play and with 13 seconds left got on the board. Sophomore Alex Eagan beat a Waltham defender and cut to the net hard getting a shot on sophomore goalie Garo Gebeyan. The rebound squirted out to senior Shane Desmond and he sniped it top shelf to get his team on the board. The period ended 4-1 in favor of Waltham.
Watertown/Wayland made a push at the start of the third, getting in hard on their forecheck and creating a few scoring opportunities, but Gebeyan was up to the task, keeping them off the board. Waltham would add on a fifth goal with 12:30 left in the period. Off a faceoff in the Watertown/Wayland zone, sophomore Brian Fleming picked up the puck behind the goal line and found senior Oliver Lasoff on the doorstep for a quick one-time shot that beat Johnson-Ciano. For the rest of the period Waltham did a great job of taking time and space away from the Watertown/Wayland forwards, limiting any scoring chances. In the end, the Hawks were just too much for Watertown/Wayland today and would take home the 5-1 win.
Three Stars:
- F Shant Gebeyan, Waltham
- F Tim O’Toole, Waltham
- F Carlo Attardo, Waltham