WOBURN — The Wilmington High hockey team did not get the win last Saturday afternoon at O’Brien Rink, but this foray into the Middlesex League’s Liberty Division went a lot better than the first one in the season opener.
Wildcat goalie Cam Thompson was excellent in net, but Woburn managed to get a couple past him in a 2-0 decision. It went a lot better for Wilmington than the 9-1 loss to Arlington.
“The boys have been working hard,” said WHS first-year coach Mark DiGiovanni, a former Wildcat standout. “There is a lot of energy and they are sticking together and staying positive. We’re looking to find the right balance and chemistry within the lines.”
The Wildcats had their chances, but were denied by the Tanner defense and goalie Adam Gerry, who posted his second straight shutout.
It took a lot of shots on goal before Woburn finally got on the scoreboard at 12:03 of the second period. The Tanners got a key insurance goal, early in the third period, and that proved enough to secure the victory.
Thompson had an outstanding day in net for Wilmington, making 37 saves while giving the Wildcats every chance to tie or win the game.
The first period saw the beginning of a trend that would last much of the contest. The Tanners were getting off a lot of shots on goal, but not many of them really challenged Thompson.
Wilmington had much fewer chances but they were fairly dangerous as they usually came on transition. Fortunately for Woburn, it has a goaltender with MIAA Div. 2 state Final Four experience in Gerry, so he was ready to make the needed saves.
Wilmington increased its attack in the second period, forcing Gerry to make 10 of his 19 saves for the game.
One that stood out, early in the second period, came when Gerry flashed his right pad to stop a deflection of a slap shot right in front of the net off the stick of junior Nate Murphy.
Woburn had 15 shots on net in the second period alone, and it was during one of high pressure sessions that it finally broke through, entering the latter stages of the period.
The goal came after defenseman Matt DeFeo took a pass from Braedan Blake at the right point. His slap shot just missed the far post, hit the back boards and bounced towards the left boards.
Defenseman Jared Barreto collected the puck and fired it on net from outside the left circle and it solved a screened Thompson for a 1-0 lead.
The Wildcats had their best chance of the game a couple minutes later when a Woburn defensive mistake led to a Wilmington 3-on-1 break. It led to a one on one with Gerry for Emrick O’Brien, who was robbed by the senior netminder.
Gerry was unable to cover the puck after making the save, leading to a wild scramble as line mates Ryan Archer and Derek Perault tried to poke it in. Gerry somehow got it out of there and the score remained 1-0 after two periods.
The Tanners made it 2-0 at 1:12 of the third period when the Wildcats had trouble getting the puck out of their zone. An attempt to clear the puck up the middle got knocked down by the stick of Blake, and the puck landed on the stick of Branden Carta, who was skating by himself through the slot. He was one on one with Thompson, he made a pump fake and then went around him and slipped the puck inside the right post for a 2-0 lead.
Woburn had two more power play chances but were unable to put any of its many shots by Thompson. Wilmington went on the power play with 1:35 left and were in the process of cutting the lead in half when time expired in the 2-0 final.
Senior Derek Perault had Wilmington’s goal against Arlington, assisted by senior Colin Allard and junior Ryan Archer.
After playing Arlington, Wilmington beat Lexington, 5-4.
In the Lexington win, four different Wildcats had goals.
Senior Cam Gray scored twice, Archer and Allard both scored power-play goals and senior Isaac Tavares added a tally.
Eight players had at least one assist for WHS including Gray, sophomore Mason Voner, Archer, Perault, Allard, Tavares, junior Nate Anderson and junior Nate Murphy, who had two assists.
Junior Evan McLean earned the victory in goal.
Team captains for Wilmington this season are Anderson, Allard and Archer.
The Wildcats were back at it on Wednesday (noon) when they ventured to Methuen High Rink for a non-league game with the Rangers.