Natick, MA – Through the magic of LiveBarn, we were able to catch tonight’s primetime tilt between the Redhawks of Natick and the Raiders of Wellesley. Our hope was to take in this game live, but alas our schedule did not cooperate. Still, getting a look at both teams was an early season priority for us as part of our upcoming January Scouting Report.
In the first period, the Redhawks took control of the game early and it did not take them long to get on the scoreboard. Just a couple of shifts into the game, freshman forward Brian Wegner pinched down the wall, stole a puck and tapped it to the slot where senior Jack McDonald wasted no time and buried to make it 1-0 Natick just over two minutes into the proceedings. Just a couple of shifts later, they would double that lead. An offensive zone faceoff was won by Wegner who delivered a clean win back to senior captain Tate Cogliano, who wasted no time in firing a shot on net that the goalie never saw: 2-0 Redhawks. Just a minute later, another goal would come off the rush as junior forward Braeden Homer dished off to Joe MacDonell who dropped a pass to senior sniper Sam Hubbard who converted with a twisted wrister to make it 3-0 Natick. Following the third goal: Wellesley’s best pushback produced a couple of key scoring chances but they were all turned away by junior goalie Brauer Malcolm. The Redhawks were assessed a penalty shortly after the push, but once again, Malcolm stood tall and pounced on loose pucks to keep the game 3-0, which would be our score after one period.
In the middle frame, the Raiders started the period strong, with most of the action taking place in the Natick end and that persistence would pay off two minutes in as big senior Aidan Reilly stole a puck in the slot, took two steps and ripped a wrister home to make it 3-1 Natick. Following that goal, the action was largely even as both teams attempted to create their own momentum. Ultimately, a power play for Wellesley would tip the scales in their favor as Reilly would dish the puck off to senior forward Cole Adams who found sophomore Aiden O’Donnell. He fired one far side that snuck past the pad of Malcolm to make it a 3-2 ballgame with seven minutes remaining in the period. The Redhawks would take the reins next with a series of quick rushes and sustained pressure in the attacking zone. With 3:15 to go, Cogliano teed up a shot for senior Alex Peck whose initial shot deflected off the goalie’s pads and he was the first to locate the rebound and bang it home: 4-2 Natick. To add some punctuation to end the period, Natick would add another, one minute before the period drew to a close. Peck snapped a cross-ice pass to the tape of junior Grady Flynn who deposited it top shelf: 5-2 Redhawks would be our score after 30 minutes.
In the final frame, we would start things off with a bang as Peck deked his way around multiple Wellesley defenders and went coast-to-coast with a highlight reel power-play goal to make it 6-2 Natick. From there, the Redhawks would largely have the game on lock. They owned the majority of the possession in the period and had several Grade A looks to extend the lead but all of them were thwarted by the goalie or a defender’s stick. Those three unanswered goals would be the final word and the final score was Natick 6, Wellesley 2.
Three Stars:
- F Alex Peck, Natick
- D Tate Cogliano, Natick
- F Aidan Reilly, Wellesley