Weston, MA – The Rivers School Red Wings hosted #10 Noble & Greenough Bulldogs in a 5:00 game on Friday. Playoff possibilities for both schools were at stake, with both teams sitting at ten wins.
Jason Delehoy started in the goal for Rivers and Tyler Bloomfield for Nobles.
The first period was evenly played with a slight advantage to Nobles early. Ben Nakata scored first after a great block by Amir Jamal sent Nakata up ice. He snapped the puck home as the Bulldogs struck first. Rivers responded quickly with a Jacob Kulas goal Stephen Rousell and Evan Handler assisted. Then Rousell added a goal with 7:15 left in the first period with a snap shot as he flew down the right wing and buried. Kulas picked up the assist. Nobles would even score on a terrific individual play by Kyle O’Leary on the power play with 57 seconds left. Nobles had three chances on the man-up and River’s had zero. The first period ended 2-2.
The second period was a wild one. Nobles scored less than a minute into the second on an Ethan Cox goal off a Billy MacAusland rebound. On the power play, Will Hatten buried a loose puck to tie the game at 3-3 with 12:31 left. That chased Bloomfield from the game as Tucker Monroe took his turn in the Nobles net. Fifteen seconds later, Nobles regained the lead on a Billy MacAusland goal from Cox. With 6:44 left 2009 Finn Sears wired a puck into the top of the net from a tough angle to tie the game at 4-4. Assists went to Justin Graf and Sam Pandolfo. Rivers had two 5v3 power play opportunities and scored on one with a hard shot by Kulas from Graf to make it 5-4 Rivers. The crowd was fired up, which is how the middle frame ended.
Delehoy shut the door in the third period, starting with two huge saves in the first minute, and Rivers took over. Defenseman Ryan Ferguson snapped a low shot into the goal with assists to Carter Meyer and Pandolfo. It was 6-4 with 11:55 remaining. Nobles pulled their goalie with just under four minutes left, and Rivers was ready as Graf popped a puck into the vacated net with an assist from Kulas, who dove to tip the puck to Graf. That made it 7-4 Rivers, which is how the game ended.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
Three Stars
First: Jacob Kulas (Rivers)
Second: Justin Graf (Rivers)
Third: Darren Iversen (Rivers)
