Hoggers Topple Wildcats in Waning Seconds

The Wildcats lost yet another one goal game this season (five in all) to a determined and energized Northfield Mount Hermon team. Contesting every play with heavy stick and body checking, the Hoggers struck first at about the midway point of the first period. Several minutes later Tri-Captain Jeff Galvin (Meriden, NH) found NMH twine to tie the game at one all. The Hoggers again took the lead several minutes later. With under a minute left in the first period, freshman attack man Cody Danforth (Milton, VT) was set up by sophomore Brent Bourgeois (New Haven, VT) to deadlock the score at two all at the end of one. The Wildcats got rolling in the second period with three unanswered goals by Tri-Captain Donner Carr (East Greenwich, RI), Jamie Schmidt (Shelburne, VT) and Galvin, the first two assisted by Carr and Galvin respectively. Galvin’s second goal was unassisted. Some sloppy play spotted NMH their third goal only to be answered quickly by Carr with an assist going to freshman midfielder Justin Wright (Waccabuc, NY). Leading 6-3 at the half, the Wildcats were seemingly in control while the Hoggers seemed to be losing focus and determination. A confident Kimball Union team took the field at the top of the second half with thoughts of quickly putting the game out of reach for the Hoggers. Instead things began to unravel as the Wildcats made several poor choices tactically and also accumulated three penalties. When the third had finally ended, NMH had outscored the Black and Orange by a margin of three to one and were two goals away from tying the contest. Carr and Galvin teamed up for the solitary Wildcat goal during the third. Despite a rocky third, Kimball Union still had the lead and a viable opportunity to seal the win. Alas, a stick check at the end of the third translated into a three minute non-releasable illegal equipment penalty. The Wildcats played hard in the man down posture and held the Hoggers to one goal over the three minute span. But the energy expenditure was extensive. With the game tied at seven all with ten minutes to go, Carr scored his fourth goal of the game with an assist going to fellow attack man Frankie Pires (Glen Ellyn, IL) to once again establish a Kimball Union lead. But the Wildcats could not hold on as they spotted the tying Hogger goal with seven minutes remaining in the contest. Unable to finish several opportunities in front of the NMH goal, the Hoggers finally got possession of the ball, pushed their transition game and found Wildcat twine with 41 seconds left. Winning the face-off, the Wildcats pressed in their attack zone to the final horn, but unable to finish and ultimately falling short by one. Sophomore goalie Jonny Lowenstein (Hastings-On-Hudson, NY) made his debut in goal and performed admirably with ten saves and some excellent clearing passes. The defensive trio of Judson Pickard (Cincinnati, OH), Trevor McGraw (Meriden, NH) and Ben Severance (Rumson, NJ) continued to play well and worked very hard throughout the afternoon, holding off a determined NMH attack again and again. Severance was particularly effective in the clearing game. Josh Boissoneau (Bedford, NH) and Andrew Richardson (Lancaster, MA) continued to hustle throughout the afternoon at the longstick middie position with some excellent ground ball work against a very physical NMH team. Evan Roberts (East Cornwall, VT) was exceptionally effective in the face-off circle today, winning nine while Carr had six. The Wildcats, one game under .500, travel to Suffield, CT on Saturday to battle the Suffield Academy Tigers, a tough Western CT Division 2 team. The face-off is scheduled for 4:30 pm.