On Monday, December 23rd, the WA boys’ varsity hockey team faced Central Catholic in a game that resulted in a 4-4 tie, after going into overtime.

The first period started with an early goal, about thirty seconds into the game, from WA senior Jason Bunyon. Both teams showed a lot of energy throughout the first period, WA players junior Nate Brown and junior Matt Cielakie showed lots of aggression towards the Central Catholic players. With nine minutes left in the first period, senior C.J. Pacifico scored for WA, giving the boys an early lead of 2-0.

Less than five minutes were left in the period when Central Catholic players scored two quick goals on WA sophomore goalie C.J. Guglielmo. The period ended with the score tied 2-2. The WA fans in the stands were very enthusiastic shouting names of players and cheering on the team after the goals were scored.

The second period started with both teams showing strong defense, keeping the puck go back and forth between sides. With ten minutes left WA had a power play, but right as the time expired for their advantage WA senior Matt Moore was put in the penalty box, giving Central Catholic a power play. WA goalie Guglielmo had a lot of saves on shots from Central Catholic, which made the fans increase their volume cheering for him. However, with five minutes left in the period Central Catholic was able to get the puck by Guglielmo, making the score 2-3.

With little time left in the second period, WA had another power play, and Bunyon was able to skate down the ice and score, tying the game 3-3 at the end of the period. Head coach Bob Carpenter was seen being very interactive with the players on the bench and during a timeout called towards the end of the period. With all the scoring going on, the whole arena had grown in volume, cheering for their team.

The boys’ energy increased for the third period with many shots on net and aggression towards the other team. WA peppered the Central Catholic goalie with slap-shots, but they could not sneak one in. Central Catholic was able to catch the WA defense off guard and score making it 3-4 with eight minutes left.

WA then went into full defensive mode; Moore made a diving jump towards a Central Catholic player in order to stop them from scoring and increasing their lead. There were a lot of close calls for WA as Central Catholic kept the puck on their side, senior Kevin Egan had many good defensive stops allowing WA to remain within one goal of their opponent. With three minutes left in the period Pacifico made a quick run down the ice and is able to score another goal for WA making the score 4-4, little time left in the third period. There were many shots on both nets by the end of the third period which had all the fans on their feet excited to watch overtime.

Since this was a regular season game, they only did one five minute overtime period with only four players on the ice for each team, not including the goalies. WA came out strong controlling the puck a lot, and making the Central Catholic goalie have to save many shots during these five minutes. Senior Kyle Wizst came very close to scoring after being on a break away, and the fans watched hopeful that WA will get another goal. However, time ran out and the score ended tied 4-4.

“[The game] was exciting to watch, I can’t believe how close the score was the entire time.” spectator Ashley Enis said.

Leading scorers Bunyon and Pacifico played tough right through the end of the game and both players ended with 2 goals each. Guglielmo also had a very good game making lots of diving saves during the third period.

The next home hockey game for the boys will be on January 8th at 7:45 against Andover.