Wellesley also earns tie with Norwood

Thursday, February 19th, 2009
Article by: Mike Stoller

Clearly, the Norwood boys hockey team could have designed better ways to follow up its stunning state tourney qualifying win over nemesis Walpole two weeks ago. The 7-1 loss to Bay State Conference perennial powerhouse Needham wasn’t too troubling, considering the Rockets are again a potential state Super 8 contender. But the way the Mustangs ended in a 5-5 tie in the ensuing game against visiting Wellesley (5-9-4, 5-8-3 BSC) was a bit frustrating. The Raiders scored at the buzzer, rallying from a two-goal deficit in the final 2:08.

Then the way the Mustangs (10-7-2, 9-5-2 BSC) ended in a 2-2 knot with archrival host Dedham (2-14-2, 1-14-1 BSC) last Saturday was simply unfortunate. The Mustangs out-shot the Marauders, 52-16, but were denied most of the time by standout goalie Mike Rahilly, while Nick Valentino eventually registered the equalizer. The contrasting comments from Norwood head coach Bill Clifford tells the story of both games.

Against Dedham, "We played real well," said Clifford. "We did everything, but put the puck in the net, [and] their goalie stood on his head." Against Wellesley, "We didn’t play well. We probably played six minutes of [good] hockey out of three periods, and you can’t do that."

The Mustangs, at this writing, three points behind Milton for first place in the BSC, were locked in a scoreless tie with Dedham heading into the third period, despite out-shooting the Marauders by a 24-1 count in the second frame alone. But Rahilly clearly was the difference minding the Marauder net.

"We bombarded him from every angle, from the corners, from the point, from out front," said Clifford. "He played well. I have to give him credit. And I have to give [their whole team] credit. They came back on us."

Despite its low shot output, Dedham rallied from a pair of one goal deficits to earn the tie.

Brendan Cathcart put the Mustangs on the board when he slid the puck by Rahilly on a low shot to the left side off a scramble in front at 3:28 of the third. Freshman Connor Mahon, who was brought up to varsity, and Peter Kelly, assisted.

At the 7:43 mark, Dedham tied it on a Jason Riley power play strike, before Norwood’s Pat Cavanaugh beat Rahilly with a nice high shot to the glove side, with MikeVerrochi and Sean Keady assisting, at 11:58.

However, less than a minute later, Valentino skated through the defense and beat Cory Sennott to the right side about half way up on a wrist shot.

"Valentino on Valentine’s Day," Clifford cleverly noted.

The good stretch that Clifford referred to against Wellesley started with about nine minutes left in the third frame, when Keady struck for the first of his two goals unassisted to tie the game at 3-3. Then, with 4:12 left, Keady scored again, with assists going to Chris O’Brien and Steve Mahon. After Steve Cottens tallied a little over a minute later on a feed from Matt Davenport, it appeared the Mustangs had a safe two goal lead.

But, oh contraire, Wellesley was not to be denied, capitalizing for a pair of strikes, as play mounted in front of the Mustang goal.

"I don’t know if we took them too lightly, but I warned [our guys] all week that Wellesley is a good team and that we’re in for a battle," said Clifford. "Their record doesn’t indicate [how good they are], but they beat Natick, 2-1, and tied Milton, 2-2. They’ve been in every game."

Neither team got any breathing room until the Mustangs took a 5-3 lead, and even that proved futile.

Norwood led 1-0 after one period, thanks to a Cavanaugh strike off helpers from Cottens and Verrochi.

But the Raiders countered with the two power play goals in the second frame, before Ryan Folan scored for Norwood, with Cavanaugh and Brian Girard assisting, to make it 2-2 after two.

After Wellesley tallied to make it 3-2 and Keady scored to tie it, "the fireworks started," said Clifford of the four goals that ensued, the first two by his team.

"It was a wild game that we just let slip away," added the coach.

The Mustangs were scheduled to close the regular season with a makeup game at home against Milton yesterday at Canton Ice Rink. They will then prepare for the state tourney.

"We’ve worked hard, and we’re still fighting," said Clifford. "It’s a tribute to the kids. We’ve had our ups and downs, but they’ve always bounced back, and it’s a whole new season once the tourney starts."
- Norwood Record