Berwick vs. Brewster

After Wednesday’s snow storm, the Berwick Academy JV Boys traveled to Brewster Academy on Friday evening to play their first game in nearly a month.

The team hit the ice with a lot of intensity and excitement, playing a back and forth game for much of the first period before Brewster struck with 2 quick goals. The Bulldogs answered not too much later in the period with their first goal (Jake Woodward) which was the product of a scrum in front of the Brewster goal. Still, Brewster came back at Berwick strong with 2 more goals before the half way point in the second period, taking a 4-1 lead. Again the Berwick “Red” line potted one in return (Jake Woodward) and revitalized team energy, narrowing the score 4-2 as they entered the third period.

The third period found Berwick doing a lot of things right – sending pucks on net, taking the body defensively, back checking hard, and making smarter decisions – but the Brewster Academy goalie turned everything away. And with under 2 minutes left Berwick’s push for desperate offense let up a 50/50 puck in their own zone which resulted in a shot on goal and a fast rebound for Brewster which was tucked away to make the final score 5-2.

Despite the Berwick JV Boys’ loss, the game was a success for the team in many ways. Many players, including Ian Wright, Owen LaBrie, Brian Horner, and Dante Fabbricatore-Urban played to the next level they are capable of and showed a lot of value to their teammates. Sam Hereford had a shakey start to the game but finished strong with 25+ saves, proving once again his strength between the pipes. Pat Nichols also received an illegal hit in front of the Berwick bench which left a scary silence in the rink for a moment but came back to the game with great tenacity, proving the depth and determination of the Bulldogs’ team. Most importantly, Berwick tightened their defense up 10 fold and improved offensive threat significantly since their previous two games. Only 2 penalties were served and breakouts and neutral zone play were executed with confidence. Berwick kept their feet moving and caused Brewster to take several penalties, but special teams had difficulty converting on the many man advantage opportunities. This will be focused on going forward in practice in hopes to keep building on the successes Berwick evidenced in this hard fought game.

The Bulldogs travel to Holderness on Wednesday (1/19) for their next game.