Two evenly-played matches headlined a number of exciting games for Founders League hockey over the weekend. Here’s how the action panned out:
Salisbury 2-2 Westminster
Westminster tied Salisbury in possibly the biggest surprise of the day. Coming into the game, Salisbury was 9-0-1, tying Kent back in December.
Though Salisbury went up 2-0 with 2 goals in quick succession in the 2nd period, Westy fought back and eventually tied the game with a goal from Mario Benicky in the 2nd and the equalizer through Taggart Corriveau with only 2:36 to play in the 3rd.
Dylan Holze and Vimal Sukumaran had initially put the Knights up 2-0, but in the end, neither side could break through in overtime, and the two teams split the result.
Deerfield 2-3 Trinity-Pawling
Trinity Pawling pulled out a big win against league rival Deerfield. They have a tough game upcoming, as Salisbury will visit on Wednesday.
The Pride took the lead in the 1st period, but Deerfield’s Lafferty evened things up on a powerplay goal in the 2nd. Trinity-Pawling was able to hang two more goals on the Big Green in the 3rd period to take the win, despite a consolation goal from Deerfield’s Yates to make it 2-3 in favor of the visitors.
Choate 2-2 Taft
Taft traveled to Choate for this Founders League matchup over the weekend. Taft led early, putting up two before Choate rallied back and put netted one before scoring the tying goal with 23 seconds left in regulation. Neither side wanted to let up in the five-minute overtime, and the game ended 2-2.
Avon 1-6 Kent
Kent easily put away Avon in the second meeting of these two Founders League teams. As usual, Kent was lead by their senior goalie, Stephen Morrissey, who made 24 of 25 saves. Seniors also led Kent’s offense, scoring 5 of the 6 Kent goals. Phillip Klitirinos, James Ricciardi, Satchel Clendenin, Mitch Allen, Brendan Soucie (2 goals) completed the scoring for the Lions on the day.
Kent has been hot ever since winning the Christmas Classic; they have beat each of the 3 teams they played by a goal differential of an impressive five or more goals. Look for the clash on Saturday between them and undefeated Salisbury, as it will be the game of the week.
Loomis Chaffee 3-1 Hotchkiss
Hotchkiss had a tough road game against the Pelicans of Loomis Chaffee. F Benjamin Sharf had put Loomis up one before the Bearcats leveled with under a minute to go in the 1st period. Loomis’ Cory Swift also notched a goal of his own in the contest, and that would prove to be beyond the means of Hotchkiss as the Pelicans walked away with the win.
Loomis looks to keep momentum going into a stretch where they will face four more Founders League teams over the next two weeks. Hotchkiss will face another tough squad this Wednesday, playing Kent at home.
Worcester Academy 4-2 Kingswood-Oxford
KO lost 2-4 on the road against out-of-league team Worcester Academy. They have two tough games in the upcoming week, playing Westminster on Tuesday, followed by Trinity-Pawling on Saturday.
– Jack Carroll
Founders League Athletics 