Junior Team Goes 2-1 in True Prep Cup

Coming off the holiday break, Northwood boys traveled to Merrimack College, where they would play in the True Prep Cup.

Starting off the weekend with a game against Nichols school, the boys looked to capture a win. The game began with both teams getting excellent opportunities, but both goalies kept the door shut for the entire first period. Going into the second period, Northwood knew that they needed to change their offense so that they could take the lead. Jack Schlifke (Forward, 2020) would do that for Northwood as he would score nine minutes into the second period. For the rest of the period, both teams would shut down in the defensive zone making the score 1-0 in favor of the junior team after two periods of play. Knowing that a one-goal lead would not be enough to win, the boys had to score more so that they could secure the win. Just minutes into the final period Elijah Devereaux (Forward, 2020) would double the teams lead with a goal of his own off a feed from Schlifke and Daniel Colabufo (Forward, 2020). Northwood would keep up their good play, until the last ten minutes of the game where they would take some bad penalties, which would cost them. During those penalties, Nichols was able to score two of their own goals to tie the game at two and send the game to overtime. Being in this situation many times before the boys felt comfortable that they could close out the game and get a win. That is what they did as Felix Trudeau (Forward, 2021) would find the back of the net off a beautiful feed from Jacob Guevin (Defenseman, 2022) and Nate Boak (Defenseman, 2020) to give Northwood a win in their first game of the tournament.

The team’s next challenge would be against Mount St.Charles, who they have seen once earlier in the year. Hoping to get a better result, the team was ready for another battle. Northwood didn’t come off to a good start as Mount would score the first goal of the game just two minutes after the puck dropped. Quickly responding would be Ray Fust (Forward, 2021) as he scored off a feed from Trudeau and Luke French (Defenseman, 2020). After tying the game at one apiece, Mount would then score two of their own goals to take the lead 3-1 in their favor. Just a minute before the period was over, Carson Hall (Forward, 2022) would tap home a rebound goal to cut the deficit to one. Looking to regroup and settle in on defense, the boys were ready for what would be a battle for the rest of the game. About halfway through the second period, French would feed the puck to Trudeau, who would take the puck down the ice and tie the game at three apiece. Less than a minute later, Mount would score another goal to retake the lead, and then again a few minutes later, they would score to make their lead two. After two periods of play, Northwood was down two goals, which meant they needed to bear down for the third. That is what the team did as Fust and Devereaux would both score to tie the game up at five apiece. With just under five minutes to play, Mount had an in-zone faceoff to the left of Northwood’s net.  After the puck dropped, Mount got their first shot stopped, but they would get a second scoring opportunity which they would score on to take the lead and eventually win the game.

After a tough loss the night before, Northwood was ready to get back on track and end the weekend on a good note. In this game, they faced off against Gunnery School. The team would get off to a slow start as Gunnery would find the back of the net to start the game, but then just minutes later, Schlifke would tie the game at one. Only 45 seconds later, Will Donato (Forward, 2021) scored another goal for Northwood to make the score 2-1. Gunnery wouldn’t let Northwood keep the lead for long as they scored another goal to tie the game at two. As the second period started at a tie, both teams would defend well until the last five minutes of the period. During those five minutes, Northwood got goals from Schlifke, Donato, Trudeau, and Mark Monaco (Forward, 2021) to take a 6-2 lead heading into the third. The third period would be the same for Northwood as they would get goals from Schlifke, Patrick Doyle (Forward, 2020), and Hall to finish the game with a 9-2 victory.

Northwood ended third in the tournament. Their next test will be at the Northwood Invitational in Lake Placid, NY.