It was matinee-Saturday at the John A. Ryan Arena as Watertown/Wayland and Melrose faced off with a 12:30 p.m. puck drop. Watertown/Wayland, in the midst of 7 of 8 at home, was obviously eager (desperate?!) to get off to a good start and put together a 45 minute game on the way to breaking into the win column in league play. Watertown/Wayland came into the game 0-7 in Middlesex League play and Melrose 1-5. But, as they did last Saturday versus Stoneham, Watertown/Wayland gave up two early goals to Melrose, and just couldn’t figure out a way to light up the lamp on the way to being shut 3-0.
I’m going to sound like a broken record, but this edition of Watertown/Wayland Hockey is better than its 1-10 record. Coach John Vlachos ran out three lines on this day, and each did some good things. The number one line of Lukas Wynn, Griffin Wood and Luke Egan created the most pressure on Junior goalie Cole Matthews, but found it difficult to “muck it up” in front of him. Most of Watertown/Wayland’s scoring chances were clean looks for the Melrose goaltender, and he gave up very few rebounds on the afternoon. That said, Egan had an excellent game. The junior skated hard and fast all afternoon, and did everything he could to lead by example. He was clearly Watertown/Wayland’s number one star.
The second line consisted of Liam Tourville, Jake Fijux and Micheal Philibin. They too were a hard-working threesome, and truly, if they are guilty of anything it’s being a few inches too small and a few pounds too light against a decent-sized Melrose lineup. That’s not the kind of disadvantage you point the finger at and say “hey, you got to do better.” The threesome worked their tails off and stood their own all afternoon.
The third line of Ryder Barenholtz, Logan Desrosiers and Maguire Cruz didn’t see as much ice time as the first two lines, but also did some good things while out on the ice. The bottom line for all three lines? Just a really thin margin for error. And a lot of energy expended trying to create legitimate scoring chances. And trying to match the physical play of Melrose and not end up on the ice or out of position as a result of standing one’s ground.
The defensive pairs of Isaac Maillis and Theodore Henrich, and Adam Capello and Kinston Omolade were workhorses in front of Junior Goalie Finnley McDonald all afternoon. Defensemen are asked to do a lot on any hockey team. Defending is clearly priority number one, and all four were tested throughout the afternoon. They chased their tails at times, finding it hard to possess the puck and clear the zone. Fatigue sets in and bad things happen as a result. Melrose’s two first-period goals were a result of not being able to clear the zone. After that, Watertown/Wayland settled down to a degree. But, of course, when a team enters the game having scored only 16 goals in 10 games, you have no choice but to ask more of the defense. Pinching in at the blue line, rushing the net as the speedy Junior Capello did all game-long, and shooting at every opportunity from the point to try and create tips is imperative.
Watertown/Wayland did all of this as best they could, but on this afternoon it wasn’t enough. Watertown/Wayland was 0 for 4 on the power play, which doesn’t help the cause, but again, it wasn’t for a lack of effort. They created a few good looks with their puck movement, but not enough to do damage. But again, I’ll stick to my guns on this one — this is a better team than the scores and record indicates. Goalie MacDonald was sharp and made some stellar saves to keep the game relatively close, but 16 goals (in now 11 games) tells the story. I truly hope though this team sticks together and keeps working hard through the remaining nine games of the season!
It doesn’t get any easier, unfortunately, as two of the powerhouses of the Middlesex League, Winchester and Arlington, visit the JAR this week.
———————————
1 2 3 F
Melrose 2 1 0 3
Watertown 0 0 0 0
———————————
Scoring Summary
1st Period
Watertown/Wayland 0 Melrose 1… Jack Feeney @ 1:20
Watertown/Wayland 0 Melrose 2… James Tillis @ 6:03
Penalty, Melrose… Hoskins, Crosschecking @ 12:05
2nd Period
Penalty, Melrose… Hoskins, Tripping @ 6:21
Penalty, Watertown/Wayland… Wood, Holding @ 13:33
Watertown/Wayland 0 Melrose 3… PPG, McLean @ 14:23
3rd Period
Penalty, Melrose… Arens, Hooking @ 7:38
Penalty, Melrose… Hoskins, Roughing @ 13:25
——————————-
Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday January 21 versus Winchester at John A.Ryan Arena, 4 pm
Saturday January 24 versus Arlington at John A.Ryan Arena, 4:20 pm
Wednesday January 28 versus Lexington at John A.Ryan Arena, 4 pm
Saturday January 31 versus Burlington at John A.Ryan Arena, 4:20 pm
Wednesday February 4 versus Wilmington at John A.Ryan Arena, 5:45 pm