Waltham, MA – For our second tilt of the evening we dropped by the supremely chilly Veterans Memorial Arena in Waltham to watch the hometown Hawks take on the Colonials of Acton-Boxboro. Both teams looked to be evenly matched based on warmups and we were ready for the puck drop.
In the first period, it was nonstop action at both ends. Each team was using its speed in open ice and there was plenty of body contact looking to jar the puck loose. Territorially, Waltham had the advantage for most of the period and they would get on the scoreboard first. 10 minutes into the period, sophomore defender Ray DeVincent threw the puck on net from the point and it hit a defender in front and snuck through the Colonials goalie: 1-0 Hawks. The remainder of the period would play out much the same way, with Waltham holding most of the possession. Onto the second…
In the middle frame, the Colonials pushed back early in a big way. Right from the jump they strung together their two best shifts of the night and it would lead straight to a goal. Just 31 seconds in, senior forward Jake Tucker took a feed from sophomore Miles Sullivan and buried it down low to tie us up at 1-1. From there the Colonials looked to seize upon the momentum, but Waltham’s defense proved difficult to crack. The Hawks owned the possession in this period and had the better of the shots as well. Most of the play was in the Colonials’ end and despite a valiant effort, Waltham would strike again with a minute to go. Senior forward Connor Chiasson took a feed from Tim O’Toole to make it 2-1 Hawks. We entered the third with the Hawks feeding off that late momentum.
In the third period, once again, the Hawks were flying around both the offensive and defensive zones and causing problems for Acton-Boxboro. The combination of winning races to loose pucks and staying strong on the sticks was a tough one to beat. The Colonials spent most of the period in their end but did create a couple of Grade A chances that ultimately did not end up in the back of the net. Ahead of a faceoff in the neutral zone, Acton-Boxboro took their timeout with 3:05 left on the clock. They were unable to muster a final push and Waltham put this game away with an empty netter by senior forward Dylan McClay. This game would end 3-1 in favor of Waltham.
Three Stars:
- F Connor Chiasson, Waltham
- D Ray DeVincent, Waltham
- F Jake Tucker, Acton-Boxboro