Varsity B Hockey v. Avon Old Farms

On Tuesday Varsity B Hockey traveled to Avon Old Farms to play an ice hockey game. After a wet and foggy bus ride down narrow country roads and through the treacherous Connecticut wilderness, the team arrived at the Avon rink ready to skate. The theme of the day was taking the right approach toward the game, as the entire squad knew that we would be challenged with some injuries to key players and this would make playing a tough opponent only more difficult. And true to form, just 35 seconds into the first period, H. Marshall slyly slipped a puck through the Avon netminder's pads. At the end of the first period the long weekend of games seemed to catch up to the boys a little and we allowed some heavy pressure on our goal, but M. Mastrogiacomo was up to the task. The first period ended in a 1-0 Eaglebrook lead. However, just 5:45 into the second period, Avon flipped one over Mastrogiacomo's outstretched left leg, to tie the game at one. Eaglebrook struck back 1:45 later when R. Fonseca gathered the puck in the slot and roofed it home on the power play for the 2-1 lead. Eaglebrook struggled to stay out of the penalty box during the remainder of the second period, but was successful at killing off two consecutive man-down situations and were in the middle of their third, when the period ended. Going into the final frame, the score held 2-1. At the start of the third period, facing a man down situation, Eaglebrook killed off the penalty and stormed to the other end of the ice, where L. Odermatt tapped one home just 1:15 into the third to give Eaglebrook a 3 goal lead. Six minutes later, J. Roemer increased the lead to 4-1, beating the Avon keeper to the glove side. But Avon did not quit. With around five minutes to go in the game, a turnover in the offensive end led to a 2 on 1 breakaway goal for Avon, cutting the Eaglebrook lead to 4-2. Eaglebrook called a timeout with around 2 minutes to go in the tilt to rest some weary legs and to talk strategy, but Avon came out of the timeout with a strategy of their own, pull their goalie, and apply steady pressure on the Eaglebrook net. It worked, as an Avon player slapped one top shelf to cut the deficit to just one goal with 1:30 left to go. The five Eaglebrook players on the ice managed to dodge a few good Avon scoring opportunities, ice the puck a few times, and scramble and claw to get the puck out of the zone during the last 1:30 to secure the victory. Not to mention a well-deserved trip to Connecticut's finest McDonalds. The game was clearly a momentum booster for the embattled Varsity B squad as they head up to Cardigan on Saturday for an important JBSAIHL matchup.