Belmont, MA -Governor’s Academy travelled to Belmont Hill for a key mid January matchup between two teams who have been clawing to get back into relevance in the very competitive ISL Keller Conference. Governor’s has gone 1-3 in their last four while Belmont Hill has gone 2-1-1 through the same stretch. The game was delayed a bit by an OT JV game prior and started at 2:30. Jason Thibodeau started in the net for BHS and Max Lacroix for the Governors.
The first half of the first period was a bit sloppy but both teams started to connect on more passes and make more plays. Governor’s struck first following a great save by Lacroix at the other end, senior Michael Marchese took off on a 2v1 and made a quick, slick pass to junior Tyson Scanlon for the goal with 6:48 left. Belmont Hill took a late penalty, the first of the game and that would leave them shorthanded for the first 1:40 of the second period.
Belmont Hill killed the penalty and went to work. They carried the play as they worked, hit, forechecked and made plays with more intensity and success. It paid paid off with with 7:03 left as Harvard commit Matt Biotti led the rush up ice, headed to the net and found a loose puck on a bit of a broken play and fired it home to make it 1-1. 2005 Brock Cummings earned an assist. 2:15 later, Cummings won a faceoff to Ronan O’Donnell and the Yale commit ripped the puck into the top of the net to give Belmont Hill their first lead. Governor’s took a penalty with 1:51 left and O’Donnell struck again. Senior Danny Markham passed to Biotti who set up O’Donnell perfectly for the one-time tally. Belmont Hill took a 3-1 lead into the third period as they totally dominated the middle frame.
The third started a bit slow but Belmont Hill found the net again. Markham snapped a pass home from Cummings after a nice keep at the blue line by Stephen Kilcoyne. It was 4-1 Belmont Hill with 14:23 left. Less than two minutes later, 2007 Patrick Woods ripped a goal, short side and under the crossbar to make it 5-1. Governor’s added a power play goal with 11:25 left. Brown commit Cam Russo scored with an assist to Alec Babineau to make it 5-2. That is how it ended as Thibodeau picked up the win in net and Belmont Hill a much needed ISL win.
Three Stars
First: Brock Cummings (Belmont Hill)
Second: Ronan O’Donnell (Belmont Hill)
Third: Danny Markham (Belmont Hill)
