Woburn, MA – This afternoon, the Red and Black of Winchester High School played host to the Marauders of Belmont High School in a Middlesex League Liberty matchup.
The Red and Black were ready to play this afternoon, and Marauders starting goalie Ethan Bauer was up to the challenge all period. The puck was in Belmont’s end early and often as Winchester controlled the play for the period. Their forecheck was relentless and physical giving the Belmont defensemen zero time to make tape-to-tape breakout passes, which turned into pucks being rimmed up the wall. Winchester’s defensemen were strong at pinching down and keeping plays alive. But with 11:00 to go in the period Belmont would get on the board first, taking advantage of a 2-on-1. Off a defensive zone faceoff, junior forward Leo Packard passed the puck up to sophomore Liam Guilderson on the rush. Guilderson made a great pass through the defender to senior captain Adam Bauer who beat sophomore goalie Graham Emerick short side to give the Marauders the 1-0 lead. Winchester fired right back 30 seconds later when senior captain Jonathan Garmey picked up a puck at his blue line, carried it into the Winchester end, cut across the slot and ripped one past Bauer to tie the game 1-1. Winchester would have a couple of power play opportunities, but Bauer shut the door and kept the score 1-1. Down at the other end, Emerick made a great sprawling stop on a short-handed breakaway by Guilderson to keep it tied. With under a minute left, it looked like Winchester may break the tie but Bauer made a full split right pad save on a one-timer in the slot to keep it a 1-1 game.
The first five minutes of the second period was all Winchester. They controlled offensive zone time and pelted Bauer with pucks but just couldn’t get one past him. The Marauders leveled the ice a bit, forechecking hard and creating some zone time of their own. With 6:21 on the clock, Guilderson grabbed the puck in the neutral zone and hit Packard on the rush. Packard found Bauer all alone in the slot and he went backhand to forehand and beat Emerick far side to give his team the 2-1 lead. Both teams had a couple of chances down the stretch but Belmont would find the back of the net again with two minutes left. Bauer was below the goal line, fought for the puck and passed it to Guilderson who was on the other side of the net also below the goal line. Guilderson made a great pass to Packard at the top of the crease for the one-timer goal. Belmont would take the 3-1 lead into the 3rd period.
Belmont picked up where they left off down the stretch of the second. Just 50 seconds into the third period, Bauer went in hard on the forecheck and won the battle next to net. He got the puck to the net and Guilderson banged the loose puck home to give his team the 4-1 lead. The game was back and forth for most of the period, but Belmont certainly generated some quality scoring chances. They also continued to play a physical brand of hockey which helped them create more offense and put the Red and Black on their heels. The Marauders certainly picked up the pace in the second half of the game and capitalized on their chances, and with Bauer’s performance in net they were able to secure the 4-1 victory.
Three Stars:
- G Ethan Bauer, Belmont
- F Adam Bauer, Belmont
- F Liam Guilderson, Belmont