Holderness Upsets Rivers
Weston, MA– In front a packed MacDowell Ice Arena on the campus of the Rivers School, Holderness held on to beat Rivers 4-2 to advance to the Small School Finals tomorrow afternoon at St. Anselm College. Holderness got on the attack early as Joseph Biddle found the puck on his stick off a blocked shot and beat Rivers goalie Casen Janko over the glove from above the top of the left circle to give Holderness a 1-0 lead 3:56 into the game. Holderness goalie, Connor Androlewicz, was the story in this game as he made thirty-two saves in the win including a huge kick save in the first period as Rivers was pressing on the power play. Halfway through the first period, Rivers goalie, Casen Janko, made a nice side to side save on an odd man rush to keep the game 1-0 as Holderness would hold that lead heading into the intermission.
1:06 into the second period, Jake Waterman received a stretch pass behind the Rivers defensemen and beat Janko on a breakaway to give Holderness a 2-0 lead. Just over three minutes later, Isaiah Fox drove the net on a two on one and finished the rebound off the shot from Kevin Pitts to give Holderness a 3-0 lead. Timeout Rivers right after. Androlewicz made some big saves in the second period including a shorthanded odd man rush for Rivers. Rivers would finally break through with 5:54 left in the second as Henry Muller picked up a block shot and snapped it home to make it 3-1 Holderness heading into the third period.
Rivers made a big push in the third period, but were unable to solve Androlewicz. Rivers did cut the lead to 3-2 with 10:30 left in the third period as Ziv Deener-Chodirker found the puck on his stick in the slot off a rebound and put it home. Holderness had a few grade A chances including a shorthanded two on none, but were unable to get a shot off. A few minutes after the Rivers goal, Janko made a sprawling back door glove save to keep Rivers in it. Rivers pulled the goalie with just under two minutes remaining, but Holderness made little plays on the walls and blocked shots to preserve the lead. Biddle would score on the empty to give Holderness a 4-2 lead and a trip to the Small School Finals tomorrow.
Three Stars
1st Star: Connor Androlewicz, Holderness
2nd Star: Joseph Biddle, Holderness
3rd Star: Jake Waterman, Holderness
NZ’s Take: Holderness seemed prepared for Rivers today. Rivers had trouble stretching the puck out, turned over pucks in the neutral zone, and lost the physical matchup. The officials called the game pretty evenly with both teams having some man advantages. The third Holderness goal from our view went off the skate of Fox and could have been a questionable goal, but there was no push back from the Rivers bench or the officials. Connor Androlewicz was excellent all afternoon. He had great rebound control, was active moving pucks to his defensemen, and caught all of the pucks at his glove. Joseph Biddle is a nice college hockey prospect. He moves well going north and is pretty shifty with the puck on his stick. He blocked a bunch of shots as well. Isaiah Fox was a pest today. He is hard on the fore check and displayed a pretty good skill set. Rivers forward Philip Tresca was very good with the puck on his stick and had multiple chances to score goals. He is dangerous on the power play. Cade Webber had a nice afternoon on the blue line for Rivers. He has an active stick and played physical when need be. Nice win for Holderness. Will be interesting to see if they can find some legs and energy to win a championship tomorrow.
