Boys’ Hockey Splits NMH Series

In a rare occurrence for an Academy team, Big Red boys’ hockey faced Northfield Mountain Hermon in two scheduled games this week. The team went 1-1 in the matchups, with a 1-0 away victory last Saturday and a 3-7 loss in yesterday’s home game. This put PEA at 19-4-2 on the season.“Coming in against another top-ten opponent, we knew it wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, so everybody was extremely focused and ready to battle,” senior defenseman Griffin Py said.NMH came into last weekend at 17-7-2, but with a more solid program than the record suggests. They have won two contests this year against Cushing Academy (6-3, 5-4(OT)), a team that has given Big Red half of its losses this season (1-3, 3-8). Coming out in the first game on Saturday, however, Exeter showed its potential.“It was an even game for the most part, but we have a little more depth and got the only goal of the game,” senior goalie Jack Parsons said. “The team really wanted to win. We came out flying despite the cold, outdoor rink.”Py agreed, especially applauding postgraduate Pat Besse’s effort to overcome Northfield.“We came out flying, and it paid off when Pat Besse buried what would be the game’s only goal,” Py said. “It was great to see Besse score, as he’s probably our team’s hardest worker and most-respected individual. You can’t teach heart, and he’s got it in spades.”The entire Exeter team followed Besse’s example of hard work in the game, and held out against a team that has scored at least five goals seven times so far this year. Parsons and the rest of the defense were exceptionally key in this performance, which gave the goalie his third shutout of the season.Heading into Wednesday’s game, Big Red had the uncommon opportunity of having a very clear memory of their last game. NMH also had the chance to stew over their loss, however, and came out with a vengeance in Wednesday's game.Although Big Red got out to a nice start, leading NMH by a score of 2-1 midway through the second period, the boys' opponents were able to slip in a goal with just under a minute remaining. This started a hot streak for NMH, who pulled away for a 7-3 victory in the final period.Though Big Red was disappointed to drop the game, the team has to get back on course with games against Brunswick on Friday and Deerfield on Saturday. With the playoffs right around the corner, PEA wants to hit a hot streak now so that they can make a run through E/a.