Friday, October 28, 2011

Bridgton Sails Past the Maine Wave

The Jr. B hockey team took the ice against the Maine Wave this week and won with a score of 5-1. Bridgton took control of the game from the get go, and let up very few times throughout the game. With the Wolverines peppering the Wave with shots, five snuck by. Dan MacInnes (Plymouth, MA) led the scoring as he capitalized on a rebound set up by Kevin Seely (Berkley, MA) and Barry O’Neil (Falmouth, MA). Shortly after, Brian McKeown (Scarborough, ME) collected a rebound from Matt Pagano (Cranston, RI) and John Sheil (Narragansett, RI) to give BA a 2-0 lead. MacInnes tallied his second of the night off a rebound from Matt Driscoll (Dedham, MA) and Seely.

Later in the second period, Marquise Cotton (Washington, DC) and Chris Mini (Everett, MA) made a series of passes followed by a text book feed to Dylan Larrow (Ludlow, HS) who finished the play with a goal. With a 4-1 lead, Ethan Charny (Chicago, IL) tossed the puck high in the air above the goalie, and on a good bounce netted the fifth and final goal of the competition. John Busa (Billerica, MA) played in net for the Wolverines stopping 34 of the 35 shots that came his way.

While Bridgton played a great game, Coach Meserve was level headed after the win commenting, “We did just enough to win. Now we need to find the inner fire to learn how to compete for every puck.”

Up next, the Wolverines will take on Middlesex Community College on Saturday the 29th at 8:00 P.M.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Player Profile: Craig Standish


HOMETOWN: New York, NY

HIGH SCHOOL: Birch Wathen Lenox

IN HIGH SCHOOL: I was a very average student

HEARD ABOUT BA: My college counselor mentioned it

GOALS AT BA: I want to improve my academics while becoming a better athlete

BA IS DIFFERENT THAN HIGH SCHOOL: There is a much stronger support system, especially when it comes to athletics

BEST THING ABOUT BA: The teachers are always available to help

WORST THING ABOUT BA: The days are very similar

ACTIVITIES AT BA: Hockey, Yearbook Club

OUTSIDE OF BA: I hang out with friends

FAVORITE BOOK: Night by Elie Wiesel

FAVORITE MOVIES: Law Abiding Citizens

FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM: The New York Rangers

FAVORITE MUSIC: Hip Hop

FAVORITE MEAL: Steak

FAVORITE QUOTE: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” - Wayne Gretzky

BA PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS SHOULD KNOW: Always work hard

Monday, October 24, 2011

Jr. A Sweeps Rice AAA

Going into an important series with the Rice Memorial AAA team, the Junior A hockey team was ready to bring their season record back to .500 and build on their last win against the Albany Americans.

After a weekend off from hockey, Bridgton came out in the first five minutes with a little rust on their blades and made the game more difficult than it had to be. By the end of the first period BA had settled in and started to dominate play, controlling almost the entire first period in the Rice defensive zone, scoring two goals in the process. Zach Wells (Hyannis, MA) netted the Wolverines first goal of the game, followed by a Cam Kennedy (Lynn, MA) goal.

In the second period, both goaltenders showed a strong performance. Bridgton threw 18 shots in the second period with none crossing the line. Rice rallied behind their goalies strong play and tied up the score 2-2 at the end of the second period. Bridgton was determined to hold onto the game going into the third period, dominating the play once again firing 15 shots on net, yet not able to slip one past Rice’s goalie.

Heading into overtime, Bridgton capitalized on the first face off. Colin Edwards (Winchester, MA) split the two defenseman on a pass from Bobby Ganley (Weymouth, MA), threw a solid head fake on the goalie, and slid the puck in the open net for the game winner. The effort was not a complete one; however the ability of the BA hockey team to continue to rally ahead of Rice proved to be the eventual saving grace.

After Friday afternoon’s win, the Junior A team was back on the ice Saturday morning for the second game in the series with Rice AAA. The feel going into the game was that Bridgton was a better team, and if a consistent effort was given throughout the game a victory was all but guaranteed. From the first face-off, Bridgton dominated the play, but was frustrated early with the style of defense that Rice played forcing Bridgton to the outside and limiting the chances in prime scoring areas of the ice. That, coupled with a number of ill-timed penalties, made the game difficult to maneuver a consistent offensive attack. When playing at full strength BA continued to show its offensive superiority deep in the Rice zone.

However, despite Rice’s defensive style, Bridgton scored twice in the opening frame. The first by Michael Marchionda (Hyde Park, MA) with the assists going to the Tommy Graham (Medford, MA) and Tommy Carlaccini (South Burlington, VT). The second goal was a combination of the same line this time Graham scoring off assists from Marchionda and Carlaccini. Rice tightened the gap scoring late in the first period.

The second frame had the most scoring of the weekend, with both teams trading two goals. Bridgton’s goal were netted by Jimmy Magrath (Medford, MA) and Ganley. With a slight lead going into the third period, it was an all too similar feeling for Bridgton and history repeated itself with Rice tying the game with 30 seconds remaining in the contest sending the game into overtime for the second consecutive game. The overtime saw many good scoring opportunities, but it was Brendan Glynn (Quincy, MA) for the game winner in overtime.

Up next, the Jr. A team will take on the Eastern Kodiaks at home on Wednesday at 4:00 P.M.

Jr. B Stays Strong in Cyclone Tournament

This weekend, the Jr. B hockey team competed in the Cyclone Tournament in Hudson, NH. The team started out Friday night with a game against the Mass Mariners AAA suqad. It was a close match up that resulted in a 2-2 tie at the end of overtime. Zach Pettingill (Scarborough, ME) and Matt Pagano (Cranston, RI) tallied goals for Bridgton to keep them in the game. The game came down to a shootout, and Barry O’Neil (Falmouth, MA) netted the game winner for the Wolverines. John Busa (Billerica, MA) played in net and stopped 26 of 28 shots and denied all three shootout attempts.

The team hit the ice again the next day to play the Red Rangers AAA team. It was a close, well played game. Unfortunately Bridgton could not keep the momentum from the prior night going as they suffered a 3-2 loss. Dan MacInnes (Plymouth, MA) put away the Wolverines first goal, as Cody Norton (Essex, VT) scored the second in an attempt to take the lead. In net, Brendan Gaetjens (Montclair, NJ) stopped 24 of the 27 shots he faced.

In game three of the tournament, Bridgton faced the Portland Junior Pirates AAA team and walked away with a big 6-0 shutout win. Norton tallied Bridgton’s first two goals of the game on power plays. Ethan Charny (Chicago, IL) scored the Wolverines third goal, setting the win in motion. Billy Smith (Boston, MA), Kevin Seeley (Berkley, MA), and Norton collected the last three goals for Bridgton in the 6-0 win. Mike Gendreau (Medford, MA) played between the pipes and stopped the 12 shots that came his way.

Coach Meserve was complementary at the end of the weekend saying, "It was a solid performance overall. We have a lot of little things we still to work on, with our biggest issue being the team not finishing a complete game yet. When we are able to play a full 60 minutes, we are going to be a tough opponent."

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Player Profile: Alex Pompeo

HOMETOWN: Hingham, MA

HIGH SCHOOL: Hingham High School

IN HIGH SCHOOL: I was not very motivated in school

HEARD ABOUT BA: Coach Lounsbury contacted me

GOALS AT BA: To improve my GPA

BA IS DIFFERENT THAN HIGH SCHOOL: You have more free time and you build much stronger relationships with your classmates

BEST THING ABOUT BA: We have our own rink and all the ice time we want

WORST THING ABOUT BA: The food

ACTIVITIES AT BA: Hockey and the yearbook club,

OUTSIDE OF BA: I play hockey and hang out with friends

ROLE MODEL: Ray Bourque

FAVORITE BOOK: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

FAVORITE MOVIES: Miracle

FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM: The Boston Bruins

FAVORITE ATHLETE: Alex Ovechkin

FAVORITE MUSIC: Anything but country

FAVORITE MEAL: Fruit

FAVORITE QUOTE: “Make each day your masterpiece”- John Wooden

MY FRIENDS WOULD BE SURPRISED TO KNOW: I love to read

BA PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS SHOULD KNOW: Come here- don’t question it.