Woburn, MA – In an early season clash of the titans, and thanks to the tech wizardry from the fine folks at LiveBarn, MassNZ was able to catch tonight’s game between the #6 ranked Xaverian Hawks and the #7 ranked Winchester Red and Black. This game was one of the top games on the schedule for this week, but regrettably we were unable to attend in-person. Still, the show must go on! Full credit goes to the Winchester home crowd as the students came dressed to impress in colorful pajamas and lots of greens and reds as we were just days away from Christmas. They were plenty vocal pre-game and made this an instantly hostile environment for the road-going Hawks. Also of note, the Hawks were debuting a new jersey (as far as we know) tonight with primarily white trim and a dark blue primary with a yellow stripe near the bottom. It is a sharp look and we imagine they will be trotting these beauties out again in the near future. But, enough with the scenery: it was time to play hockey.
In the first period, Winchester fed off the home crowd and controlled much of the early possession. They were strong in their own zone and pushed the pace up ice to create odd-man chances. As we moved along, however, Xaverian began to push back and had a flurry of Grade A chances of their own. The Hawks were able to move the puck to the middle to create those chances but junior Winchester goalie Graham Emerick denied every puck thrown his way. At the other end, senior Xaverian goalie Harry DeFeo did exactly the same as he denied a breakaway chance and a couple of one-timers. Both teams were on their games early, there were a few flubbed passes, but that was because both teams were so good at using their sticks to deny those plays. We would head to the second tied 0-0.
In the middle frame, both teams were looking to connect on home run passes, but were ultimately unsuccessful. This felt more wide open than the previous 15 minutes and there were a higher volume of chances because the play was so loose. As the period moved along, a pattern began to develop as Winchester was playing the chip and chase game and Xaverian was able to retrieve and looked to spring the open man up ice. They created a nice breakaway chance just before the midway point of the period, but Emerick was up to the task. Just a few seconds later though, Xaverian would strike first as senior Daniel Gentile knocked a puck loose from Emerick’s grip and it trickled out to an open sophomore James Johnson who buried with a one-timer to make it 1-0 Hawks 7:29 in. That goal lit a fire under Xaverian who made their strongest push after the goal and drew a penalty with just over four minutes remaining. During the ensuing power play, junior forward Max Vozzella intercepted a pass at the top of the zone and flipped it over the defender’s head where senior Caiden Brady was already in full stride and beat his man to the puck. With a quick snap he was able to fire it home shorthanded to tie us up at 1-1…exactly 11:11 into the period. Numerology aside, it was a big momentum shift for the Red and Black and they were able to stem the tide and keep this game level until the buzzer sounded on the second period. We entered the third period all knotted up and it was anyone’s game.
In the third stanza, the game began to settle into a nice ebb and flow as both teams tightened the grip on their sticks and made smart, detail-oriented plays to ensure Grade A chances weren’t happening on their watch. There were some heavy body checks, smart defensive stick work and plenty of layering to prevent these chances from doing damage. The opening first half of the period was a series of back and forth rushes and gamesmanship on both sides to shut down the puck carrier’s options. The game continued much in this manner throughout: minimal whistles and lots of end to end action. As we got into the final minutes, the ice wasn’t tilted either way…until the game-winner was scored. With 1:27 left, junior defender Justin Mosher walked the blue line and found a shooting lane through multiple bodies. Standing in front of the crease was Johnson and the puck grazed off him and deflected behind the netminder to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead. The remaining minute plus was largely academic: the Red and Black pulled Emerick, but there was not enough time to mount a comeback. The Hawks steal the regulation win and move on to face Archbishop Williams in the SS Classic this weekend. Winchester is off until the New Year where they will face Arlington.
Three Stars:
- F James Johnson, Xaverian
- F Caiden Brady, Winchester
- D Justin Mosher, Xaverian