1/28/04
Five Second Period Goals Propel Deerfield to 6-3 Win
Simsbury, Conn. – Deerfield, down 2-0 early in the second period, exploded for five straight goals in the second period en route to a 6-3 win over host Westminster here today.
After Westminster got first period goals from Duncan Smith and Ben Smith (no relation), Deerfield went to work against Westminster’s normally steady senior goalie Ted Levine. First, Deerfield defenseman Paul Baier walked in from the blue line, curled around one defender, and lifted a shot into the top corner at 3:21. Four minutes later, defenseman Will Boardman tied things up on the power play when his shot from the left point found its way through a screen to tie things up at 2-2. Late in the period, Deerfield got three goals in less than two minutes, as junior defenseman Ben Fields wristed one from the right point that found its way through a crowd to give Deerfield a lead they quickly added to with goals by J.J. Evans, off a nice goal-mouth pass by former Belmont High star Chris Diozzi; and Mike Butler, off a rebound of a Baier shot.
Westminster coach Tom Earl replaced Levine at the start of the third with sophomore Bryce Shattie, who shut down Deerfield with seven third period saves. Westminster junior forward Mike Vaskivuo scored a power play goal at 7:06 to cut Deerfield’s lead to 5-3, but the Big Green iced it with a Mike Collins empty-net goal with 1:16 remaining.
Notes: In games involving Top 10-ranked teams, #1 Cushing went on the road and edged the NMH Hoggers 6-4. Chris Bourque had 3g,1a for the Penguins and Matt Germain had 2g,1a for NMH… #2 Avon Old Farms came back from a 3-0 deficit to top Loomis, 4-3… #3 Thayer needed a Ryan Driscoll goal with 25 seconds left in regulation to tie up host St. Paul’s… #4 Taft beat Kent, 6-0… #5 Hotchkiss, behind a 1g,2a day from Torrey Mitchell, tied Canterbury, 3-3… #6 Salisbury got a 3g,1a day from J.J. Cunningham, and a 4 assist performance from Jerry Pollastrone in an 8-0 win over Gunnery… #7 Belmont Hill was scheduled to host St. Mark’s, but we haven’t received a score yet… Brian McGuirk had two goals and Benn Ferriero picked up three assists in #8 GDA’s 5-2 win at Lawrence Academy… Corey Schneider had a 24-save shutout as #9 Andover topped Brewster Academy, ranked #1 in Div. II… #10 St. Sebastian’s got three first-period goals and Nobles, the visitors from a couple miles away, picked up three third-period goals as the two teams battled to a 3-3 tie.
