Today the boys J.V. hockey team traveled to Andover to take on a gritty and determined team. Andover would score first midway through the first period as the boys in green had trouble getting into a rhythm that could produce successful hockey. Andover was tenacious on the puck all throughout the opening period.
The second period remained scoreless and you could see the frustration mount on the Deerfield bench. Today we were missing three of our top forwards and a key defenseman from our lineup. We began the game with a new-look lineup and things got even more challenging from there with a few game time injuries. Goalie Colin Olson was sharp and his play allowed us a chance to play for the win once the third period began.
Early in the third period defenseman Alex Strait scored on a hard one-timer with the pass coming from Will Dale and Garrett Moe. The spark was lit and the pace picked up. Another goal came soon after; this time it was Will Dale scoring a goal while we were short-handed. His goal was set up nicely by Garrett Moe. There was no quit in Andover as they continued to battle hard. They would go on to score the next two goals giving them a 3-2 lead with under six minutes left in the game!
Andover began to get in trouble taking a few too many penalties and with under 4 minutes to play Jack Shanahan would score off a nice passing sequence from Garrett Moe and Alex Strait. The score was tied at 3 apiece.
In the overtime period, on our second shift, Will Dale found the back of the net for the game winner. The bench emptied and we could get on the bus with a victory. It wasn’t pretty, but the team figured out a way to get the win. Special thanks to the Darlings for providing pizzas for the team after the game!!!