Boston, MA – On Saturday, Wellesley took a short drive into the city to take on Brookline at the venerable Walter Brown Arena and what proceeded was a hard-fought, back and forth battle between the Raiders and the Warriors.
Both teams exchanged multiple shots early in the first period, but Brookline seemed
to have the advantage. There was one prime scoring chance that featured a good odd-man rush for a 2-on-1 for Brookline, but it was broken up by a Wellesley defender who got a stick on the cross-ice pass. Wellesley came right back storming up the ice for a quick wrister from the top of the circle with traffic in front, only to be gloved down by the diving Gil Markman, goaltender from Brookline. While in the neutral zone, a slick pass from Ellis Vish to forward Rohan Gervais, who sped past one defender and dangled past the next, took a diving snap shot as he was falling to the ice to make it a 1-0 game for Brookline. This goal exuberated the crowd and established the momentum for Brookline. However, Wellesley did not back down as junior forward Josh Lunger sped down the wing for a breakaway only to be stoned by the senior Markman. In the latter minutes of the first period, Wellesley earned a power-play opportunity to try and tie this game up before going into the first intermission. But it was a strong PK by Brookline and continuous pressure on the breakout that prevented Wellesley from scoring as time expired both on the clock and the penalty.
Worth noting, Grayson Badger for Brookline was all over the place and involved in most offensive plays, including a nice rush up the ice and backhand saucer pass to a teammate for a quick shot but the senior Raiders goalie Andrew Hubbard remained on his toes ready with the pad save. Hubbard enjoyed playing the puck often in this game, using his paddle to break up plays in the defensive zone.
The score was 1-0 Warriors going into the third period, so Wellesley began to use the body more in the final frame. Badger nearly scored after making a nice individual move with a slick toe drag through the defender to the backhand which with a little elevation could have made it a 2-0 game, but instead, Hubbard got a glove on it. 40 seconds later Wellesley had the puck in the offensive zone, when senior forward Liam Jensen pulled the puck out of a scramble and fired it home just beating Markman to tie the game 1-1. Shortly thereafter, Wellesley players were buzzing in the offensive zone pouring in shots to try to take the lead. Senior Raiders forward Emmett Coakley made a lot of quality plays and was not afraid to lower the shoulder to anyone who opposed him. With just 2:37 left in the 3rd period, it was Grayson Badger who was the hero for the Warriors. Right off the draw he took the puck in, deked Hubbard just enough to make him bite on the move and scored to make it a 2-1 game. Wellesley pulled the goalie to make it a 6-on-5 to try and tie the game up but it was unsuccessful as Brookline held on to secure the win. 2-1 was the final.
Three Stars
- F Grayson Badger, Brookline
- G Gil Markman, Brookline
- G Andrew Hubbard, Wellesley
