Belmont, MA – Belmont’s home opener against the reigning state champions, Catholic Memorial, was an extra-special night for the community, as it was the school’s first game in their new Skip Viglirolo Rink. In the stands, we heard people of all ages talk about their appreciation and admiration for the new modernized rink, which was usually accompanied by a comparison to the old rink…and the birds that inhabited the premises. Both teams came into the night with younger squads: Belmont rolled out four freshmen and three seniors, while Catholic Memorial played with six freshmen and only one senior.
The first period started quickly for Catholic Memorial; they bombarded Belmont on the forecheck almost immediately, forcing Belmont’s defenders to throw the puck up the boards and not even letting them begin the process of a clean breakout. Two minutes into the game, Catholic Memorial had multiple scoring chances and were already starting to close in when Belmont earned a power play. Shortly into Catholic Memorial’s penalty kill, they caused a defensive zone turnover and flew down the ice on an odd-man rush. Sophomore AJ Ankstitus had the puck on the right side of the slot and made a nifty drop pass to James Baker, who took a low one-timer from the upper-middle part of the slot, beating the goalie five-hole. The Knights found themselves on the board again with eight minutes left in the period when captain Liam McKinney got out of a tightly contested spot in the corner of the blue line and sent a low, hard shot to the net that was tipped in by sophomore Ronan Foley, who was standing in the slot. Around a minute later, highly regarded freshman Shaun Farrell scored from the blue line with a low shot. After the first 17 minutes of the season, it’s clear Catholic Memorial has picked up exactly where they left off, leading 3-0.
The second period started off a lot better for the Marauders; they were able to break the puck out more easily, leading to some scoring chances and ultimately balancing out the stress of the Knights’ forecheck. Catholic Memorial’s Jaxson Fleming shut the door on multiple odd-man rushes in the early second, which sparked Catholic Memorial to start dominating again. The last three quarters of the second period felt like a repeat of the first—the Knights forechecking hard and winning battles while not losing control of the puck. This would go on for long stretches, leaving the Belmont players gassed and giving Catholic Memorial essentially free rein of the offensive zone. Baker took the puck for a stroll and found himself in the corner, shrugged off a hit by shoulder faking and by opening his hips, forced the netfront defender to attack him, allowing him to thread the needle to the slot to Michael Melvin, who tapped it into an open net. A few minutes later, Belmont native and junior Daniel Antonellis put another one in for the Knights, making it 5–0 around halfway through the game. The last half of the second proved uneventful, although Belmont continued to play with the same intensity and effort.
The third period was more of the same, with Catholic Memorial winning puck battles and controlling the puck. Junior Christian Hinckle buried one from the side of the slot in the early stages of the third, forcing running time after scoring their sixth, leading to a quick and uneventful period. Fleming and the Knights ended the game with a shutout and the first win of their season.
Three Stars:
- G Jaxson Fleming, CM
- D James Baker, CM
- D Ronan Foley, CM