BVH Rolls in Two Wins
Postgraduate Max Alsarraf deftly intercepts a fast pass from upper Andrew Seaman. He flies down the ice, blowing past the Berwick Academy defender. Utilizing this breakaway, Alsarraf winds up, shoots, and the puck rockets into the net. This first Exeter goal hyped up the team, who went on to win the game, 4-1. Exeter dominated Berwick last Friday before smoking the Tilton School 6-2 the next day. These two wins added to their impressive record of 20-3-1.
Lower Danny Colón described the Berwick game’s environment in front of a home crowd as electric, saying, “There was a good atmosphere on Friday; a lot of people [were] in the stands, cheering the team on.” The stands were packed with students, faculty, and families eager to watch the fast paced game. The home advantage played a key role in motivating Big Red to score four strong goals throughout the three periods.
On Friday, Exeter snagged a win due to strong goals from uppers Garrett Foster and Michael Pitts. Pitts and senior Conor Shannon both said the team’s goals were scored from multiple lines and many different players, emphasizing that everybody helps out in creating a strong offense. With a well-rounded and talented bench, boys’ varsity hockey proves to be an offensive threat to any team they face. In regards to the mindset going into the game, Shannon said, “It was a game that we were supposed to win, which is always dangerous to kind of go into a game thinking that.” Nonetheless, the team prevailed with four goals and only one given up.
Senior goalie Will Douthit gave a great performance, letting in only one goal during the Berwick game. He stopped their dynamic offense throughout all the periods, blocking many breakaway opportunities, and only missed one shot with five seconds left in the game. The team also noted that lower goalie Ryan Welch played a fantastic game against Tilton on Saturday. He stayed attentive during the close match to come up with saves that ultimately led to Exeter’s win. Between the two goalies, Big Red only allowed three goals between the two games. Shannon described Welch as “[a] goalie that makes a lot of big saves and is a key player on our team.”
During the last of three competitive games this week — the match against Tilton — the team took a few minutes to set the pace. However, Big Red’s third goal sparked the energy for the players on the ice to separate from Tilton and assume a 3-0 record this past week. Pitts commended his peer’s efforts on Saturday, saying, “In the Tilton game, it was 2-2, and then Danny Colón scored to make it 3-2. That’s when we started to pick it up.” Regardless of the warm-up time against Tilton, the Exeter players were ecstatic to turn up the heat after two tough losses last week.
Shannon explained the team’s slow start against Tilton. “It started off really tense because it was a game that knew we needed to win,” he said. “And it took us a little bit to kind of get up on them.” Once the team kicked off, there was no stopping them. The boys crushed Tilton’s dreams in the third period, scoring three amazing goals.
Foster praised seniors Bobby Murray and Peter Scheschareg when the latter had a breakaway in the third period. He said, “Bob gave a nice pass to Pete for a breakaway goal against some of Pete’s friends he used to play with that play for Tilton. The guys were buzzin.’”
The team will have another busy weekend with a home game against Hebron Academy and an away game against Choate Rosemary Hall on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Despite Big Red’s previous wins last season, the team remains focused and continues to work hard in practice. Pitts explained, “We’re training very seriously and going into the game not expecting anything and knowing that we have to play our best if we want to win.”