The GHS boys hockey team took a tie in their NEC matchup last Saturday against the NEC’s current top dog, the Winthrop Vikings.
Assistant captain Chris Karvelas made the lone goal for the Fishermen with assists from Captain Joe Orlando and Chris Dailey.
The first period was quiet for both teams, despite Gloucester taking 7 more shots than their NEC opponents.
The second period proved to be crucial for both teams, with the only goals scoring during the 15 minutes. Dailey came storming towards the net before passing the puck back to Orlando. Orlando then shot the puck towards Karvelas, who wound up and smashed the puck past Winthrop’s unexpecting goalie. Up 1-0, Gloucester was hoping to capitalize on the momentum and continue their lead, but a Winthrop goal in the last 18 seconds of the 2nd tied the game up again.
The third and fourth periods went scoreless, but not without some pushback from the Fishermen. This game marked the return of top scorer Colby Jewell in Gloucester’s rink. Brett Cunningham and Jewell had many scoring opportunities throughout the game that they tried to capitalize on, but Winthrop’s goalie shut them down at every chance. Cade Cooper also proved beneficial to the Fishermen, with multiple aggressive plays and checks. One of his plays even had his helmet flying off his head and across the ice, but the junior continued to rake up shots for the team.
Another star for the Fishermen was freshman Cade Francis, who has proven to be a threat on varsity ice. Francis made a diving save in front of goalie Nick Tarantino, blocking a possible shot from the Vikings.
Tarantino was a brick wall in the net, saving the game for Gloucester on multiple occasions. The senior made one save where he slid across the net and blocked a hard Viking shot, causing the puck to fly into the air for Gloucester to recover. He had 17 saves on the night.
“Going into the game we knew that it was gonna be very scrappy,” Karvelas said post-game. “Lately we have been in a slump but this week in practice the energy seemed to shift. That’s a good team we played, they are at the top of division 4 and that was a step in the right direction for morale and the rest of the season. Hopefully we can keep up the hard work and get back to it Wednesday night against Danvers.”
While the game didn’t end the way the Fishermen hoped it would, they did knock a point off of Winthrop. With two more home games left, the team hopes to capitalize on a home-ice advantage against two more NEC foes and add to their 8-8-2 record. The team awaits the arrival of their rivals, the Danvers Falcons, this Wednesday for a 5:30pm Valentine’s Day rumble at the Tank.
