DOM DEANGELIS surrendered just one goal in Wakefield’s win over Wilmington on Sunday following his 29-save shutout against Watertown on Wednesday. (Christina Gagne Photo)
By CHARLES GAGNE
STONEHAM — The Wakefield boys’ hockey team captured its third win of the season in a tight game against Wilmington on Sunday at the Stoneham Arena. It was Wakefield’s second consecutive win after beating Watertown 1-0 on Jan. 4.
The large crowd of family, friends and young Wakefield hockey hopefuls was treated to an exciting, close match that broke Wakefield’s way at the end.
Notable defensive plays came early in the game, such as a steal by Trevor Veilleux and a big hit by John Regan, both of which stopped promising Wilmington possessions.
The offense was there also with a shot by Liam McNeil that went just wide, a shot by Tylor Roycroft that almost poked in over the Wilmington goalie’s pad and a shot by Andrew Martin that was barely pushed away by the goalie.
Soon after, a Wilmington player fired the puck from the top of the point and it went into the Wakefield net to put the Wildcats up 1-0.
Wakefield had a few excellent chances toward the end of the first period. A shot by Regan was almost deflected in. Captain Matt Elwell had a chance right in front of the net but was not able to lift the puck over the pad of the goalie. Then a 2-on-1 opportunity resulted in a nice shot by Jack Curran, but the Wilmington goalie made the save.
Shortly into the second period, Wilmington was given a penalty for interference and Wakefield made use of the power play. Veilleux fired a shot, but it did not get past the Wilmington goalie.
A few minutes after the conclusion of that first power play, Wilmington was penalized again, but Wakefield did not capitalize. Wakefield goalie, Dom DeAngelis, made a couple of impressive saves during this second period, a few with the glove and one right in the chest. Wakefield had some additional promising possessions at the end of the second period, but never got a great shot off, as the Wildcats’ defense was playing well.
Right at the start of the third period, Elwell was robbed of a goal up close when the Wilmington goalie just pushed the puck away with the edge of his glove.
A few minutes later, however, the equalizer came for Wakefield, as the Warriors and Wildcats fought for a loose puck, Curran came away with it, then he rifled a shot into the back of the Wilmington net. With the game tied 1-1, there were then a few slow minutes with no real chances for either side.
With about five minutes left in the game, two face-off wins in the Warrior offensive zone led to two powerful Wakefield shots, but one was saved and one flew just wide. With only a few minutes remaining, Wilmington had a breakaway chance, however it was neutralized by a good chase down effort along with a solid save to keep the score tied.
Right after the game clock passed two minutes, a 2-on-1 opportunity came for Wakefield when Andrew Nemec passed the puck over a Wilmington defender’s outstretched stick to Sean Hogan, who finished the golden opportunity with a score to put Wakefield ahead 2-1. A Wakefield penalty in the last minute and a half made things nerve-racking, but the Warriors held onto their 2-1 lead to improve to 3-4 on the season.
Curran, who scored the game-tying goal, said, “It felt really good to tie the game and get us back into it and I think that was a huge win for us because now we have a chance to get back to .500 in our next game.”
Wakefield edged Watertown with a similarly impressive defensive performance.
DeAngelis came up huge with 29 saves in that win.
The Warrior goal against the Raiders was scored in the 2nd period when Martin pounced on a misplay by a Watertown defender at the blue line after Hogan deflected a centering pass from the half boards. Martin jumped onto the loose puck and finished on a breakaway, blocker side.
Wakefield (3-4), who is now 2-0 in Middlesex League Freedom Division games, will take on rival Melrose (2-5-1) tomorrow night, 7:30 p.m. at the Kasabuski.
