Warriors edged in back-to-back close games

Published in the January 29, 2019 edition.

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

STONEHAM — Through the midway point of the season and with valuable points to chase, the Wakefield High boys’ hockey team found themselves on the wrong end of two very close games, first against Woburn on Saturday then at home against Belmont last night.

The Warriors were close enough in both games to pull their goalie but an empty-netter resulted in identical 4-2 losses in both contests.

On Saturday, the Warriors and Tanners see-sawed through the first two periods. Wakefield won the first when junior Scott Elwell scored with under a minute remaining, assisted by senior captains Jake Regan and Thomas Harrington.

Woburn responded swiftly in the second period on their home ice at O’Brien Rink, scoring twice to take a 2-1 lead into the final frame.

Wakefield fought in the third until they evened it up. Sophomore Brendan Vacca scored on a rebound off a shot from senior captain Mike Lucey tying it up at 2-2 in the middle of the third.

Just as each team had done all night, Woburn’s mentality to letting in a goal revolved around doing anything possible to get it back. The Tanners scored late then added at empty netter to leave the Warriors with crushing 4-2 loss.

Wakefield didn’t have any time to mull it over as they immediately shifted their focus to Belmont last night at the Stoneham Arena.

The Marauders entered the night with 10 points and eight games remaining. Like Wakefield (eight points and eight games left), Belmont had a clear sense of urgency that seemed to heighten as the game went on.

Elwell earned the starting nod in this one, skating with first-liners Harrington and junior Cam Souza. The first was about as even as it can get, with the Marauders barely outshooting the Warriors 12-10.

Wakefield killed a penalty called with 7:17 remaining. Junior goalie Luke Roberts squared up a clean shot from the left dot and froze the puck with one minute left on the Belmont power play.

Harrington set the tone through the end of the period, flying around the ice and causing all sorts of problems for Belmont’s defense. A great pinch from freshman defenseman Evan Simoneau kept the puck in the zone which later resulted in an offensive zone faceoff. Harrington, having just helped kill a penalty, stayed out on the ice, won the draw, cleared out a defender on a big hit after a dump in, took the puck and fed a sweet pass from behind the net to a cutting Souza whose one-timer was somehow stopped by Belmont goalie Nico Carere.

Wakefield drew a penalty with 2:35 left but soon after got called themselves when Belmont had a shorthanded bid. That created a 4-on-4 for about 1:20 and after no great chances for either team, the Warriors killed nearly all of the final 40 seconds of the Belmont power play as a very entertaining first ended with no score.

As was the case in Woburn, Wakefield lost the second period. The Warriors outshot Belmont in the second, 10-7 but the Marauders were sharp on their chances and took a 2-0 lead into the third.

Wakefield had two power plays in the second. The second one was created by sophomore Cal Tryder who drew a hook on a pursued two-on-one.

Wakefield’s first power play of the period featured plenty of long shots from the blue line and a bunch of chances that just missed the goal. The second power play wasn’t as smooth as the Warriors perhaps tried to do a little too much down a goal. A bad turnover at the Belmont blue line resulted in a breakaway shorthanded goal with 3:06 left in the period.

Wakefield responded with a couple more chances. Elwell just missed on a bouncing puck on the weak side of the net and freshman Joe O’Brien closed the period strong with two nice bids, one after gloving a flying puck down in stride at his own blue line and going coast-to-coast. Again, it was Carere who won the battle, freezing the puck and shutting out the Warriors for another 15 minutes.

The third was much more hectic.

Roberts had some lightning-fast pads to stop a couple of early shots from Belmont, keeping Wakefield in the game.

The Warriors kept tantalizing their fans with near misses, especially on backdoor one-timers. Wakefield was often in position on the weak side but couldn’t finish.

The home team finally broke through with 5:22 remaining.

Regan fired a low shot from the left point that was perfectly tipped by Mike Locke. Locke’s fourth goal of the season, which currently leads Wakefield, was a beauty. Regan gave him a chance by putting the shot in a perfect spot with enough heat. Locke, turning toward Regan with his back to the net, continued to drop his right skate, spinning so he could get a piece of the puck on his forehand. The freshman was opening up toward the goal by the time the shot got there and his misdirection found the back of the net to make it 2-1.

Roberts made a quality stop on a Belmont tip in front but the Warriors put a ton of pressure on themselves by committing a penalty with 3:51 left.

The Warriors had a golden shorthanded bid when senior Dan Guarino found Harrington flying down the ice on a long pass, right to left through the neutral zone, but “Harry” was called offside on a very close play, putting an instant stop to a breakaway while at the same time creating some impromptu aerobics for the Warrior parents with hands flying to the ceiling complete with a couple of jumps and more than a few “Oh’s!”

Another penalty was called on Wakefield with just over three minutes left which meant a 5-on-3 for 1:19. Wakefield showed their mettle here with plenty of blocked shots. Regan blocked two slap shots in a row, then after senior Connor Santos got in on the mix, Regan stopped another one with his knee to the ice and Guarino cleared. Just as Wakefield got one skater back, Belmont caused a scrum in front and after the dust settled with Roberts looking around for his stick, the puck was in the net for a 3-1 Belmont lead.

Wakefield called a timeout and pulled Roberts with 1:35 left. Mike Lucey got a quick one back for the home team scoring through traffic with 1:18 left, assisted by sophomore Brogan Chambers and Harrington.

The 3-2 score didn’t last long as Belmont sent a long shot down the ice off the ensuing faceoff, finding the goal for an empty netter and a 4-2 win.

It was certainly another stinging loss for Wakefield who clearly went into these two games looking for anything from two to four points.

The Warriors still have seven games to make some noise. Up next, they play Burlington (6-6-2) on Saturday, time and location to be announced.