WOLVERINE B SQUEAK BY WAVE 4-2

The Wolverine B Hockey Team traveled to the Biddleford Ice Arena to take on the Maine Wave AAA U-18. Playing USA Hockey rules and two 22 minute periods, the Wolverines came out flying. "In practice all week, we worked with our forwards getting the puck down low and putting pucks to the net. I thought the first 5 minutes of the game, we did an outstanding job controlling the flow of the game" said Assistant Coach Chris Travis. Bridgton took a quick 1-0 lead, when Dean Cavicchi(Plymouth, MA/Coyle Cassidy High) redirected a Tanner Chase(York, ME/York High) shot. BA continue to pressure down low in the Wave Zone. After creating numerous turnovers, Cavvichi stole a pass and walked in for his 2nd goal of the game. Bridgton then struggled when they were up 2-0. "Our endzone defense was awful. We played a very selfish game. Guys looking for points and trying to be superstars. We have some outstanding systems and when guys work outside of our system, bad things happen" said Coach Mike Meserve. The Wave capitalized to make it a 2-1 game, when a Wave player sat in front and buried a one-timer with no BA player within reach.

Between halves, Coach Meserve and Coach Travis, expressed their displeasure on how the team seemed reluctant to utilize their systems. Whatever was said, seemed to work as BA came out and really worked the puck down low. "Guys like Tim Marshall(Hull, MA\Archbishop Williams High) and Mike Clancy(Hampton, NH/St. Thomas High) threw their bodies around today. They we so good down low. They had some quality hits, shots and were outstanding in time of possession" said Meserve. BA had their best goal of the year when Dan Macinnes(Plymouth, MA/Plymouth North High) continued to move his feet and wrist a shot low on the goalie. Erik Burke(Manchester, NH/Memorial High) drove the net and buried the rebound. Finally, on a set end zone face off play, Defenseman John Delpadre(North Providence, RI/Smithfield High), swung a pass to the streaking Charlie Gendron(Boxford, MA/Masco High) who drove pass the Wave defensemen on a breakaway. The defender took Charlie down before he could get a shot off and the official signal a penalty shot. Gendron made a nice move then slide a backhand through the goalies five hole. BA up 4-1 seemed to relax a little and allowed the Wave to chip into the lead making 4-2. Again, poor end zone defense and long shifts helped account for the goal. Jesse Little(Freedom, ME/Winslow High) picked up the win in goal, stopping 20 of the 22 shots he faced.

Overall, the coaching staff saw some good things and some bad things. Things no doubt will be addressed and worked on during practice this week.

BA looks to continue their mini winning streak when they take of the New England Stars Junior B Saturday and Sunday at the Bridgton Ice Arena.

Jr. A Splits with NSA

The Jr. A Team arrived in Lake Placid, NY late on Friday night after an interesting bus ride. The team was a little tired to start their game against a very talented team from the National Sports Academy on Saturday. BA took a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from Brendan Moore (Springfield, MA) which was assisted by Mike Peacock (Barnstable, MA). NSA rallied back and tied the game in the third period. BA put up a good fight but NSA was able to pull ahead on a power play goal with a few minutes left in the game. BA didn't let up and threw everything they had at the NSA goalie who stirred away everything he faced in the final few minutes. Brad Cray (Raleigh, NC) played very well stopping 23-25 shots for BA.

On Sunday BA shortened their bench as did NSA to get some other players into the mix. Will Husic (Glastonbury, CT) got the start in net and stopped 21 out of 23 shots. BA won 7-2 with a great effort from their defense. Erik Burke (Manchester, NH) tallied three goals for the night earning his first hat trick of the season. Burk and his line were +4 for the afternoon. Dean Cavicchi (Plymouth, MA), Charlie Cobb (South Burlington, VT), and Marco Spisso (Highland Falls, NY) all added to the offensive attack and added goals for the night. John Delpadre (North Providence, RI) had a +5 rating as a defenseman and Dan Sullivan (Burlington, MA) added two assists on defense.

WOLVERINE B TOPPLE NORWICH CLUB 3-1

The Wolverine B Team traveled Friday to Northfield, VT to take on ACHA Powerhouse Norwich University. Jesse Little(Freedom, ME/Winslow High) returned between to pipes in this high anticipated match up. The Wolverines started the first period with a peppering of the Norwich goalie. BA took 23 shots on goal, while only allowing 3. Coach Mike Meserve noted,"We played great in the offensive zone. The boys put a lot of puck on the net and battle for rebounds. However, I was really proud our defensive zone play. We broke the puck out quickly and didn't allow any quality scoring opportunities." On a power play, Bridgton finally broke the ice when Charlie Cobb(South Burlington, VT/South Burlington High) buried a quick snapshot from the point. Bridgton was very physical in the first period, which helped them control the tempo and work the puck down low over and over.

Leading 1-0 after one period, the Wolverine put together another solid period. Outshooting Norwich 15-10. Little had some more work in net, but Bridgton did a great job keeping the puck low in Norwich's zone. Marco Spisso(Highland Falls, NY/ Red Bank Generals) gave BA a 2-1 lead when he scored off a nifty move driving to the net. BA's penalty kill was very active in the second period, including a full two minute 5-3.

The third period was a back and forth battle. Very physical, bordering chippy. Norwich made it a one goal game with a redirection in front, but Little and the Wolverine defense shut the door the rest of the way. Ryan Kulik(Pembroke, MA/Pembroke High) sealed the Wolverine win with an empty net tally.

Bridgton B evened their record 1-1-1. On Wednesday, the Wolverines travel to Biddleford Ice Arena to take on The Maine Wave U-18 AAA. Then Saturday and Sunday they take on the New England Stars U-18 AAA.

Maniacs Drop BA 4-2

Bridgton Academy "B" Hockey Team traveled to Lewiston Saturday evening to take on the Lewiston Maniacs U-18 AAA Midgets. The Wolverines came out flying and peppered the Maniacs goalie with repeated shots. "I wanted our guys to put pucks to the net and hammer in rebounds. We don't have that true sniper on the team and have to earn every scoring opportunity" said Head Coach Mike Meserve. BA scored first when Sam Parent (Hinesburg, VT/CVU) banged in a John Delpadre (North Providence, RI/Smithfield High) shot from the point. The Maniacs began to unleash some shots on Goalie Derek Spencer (Rochester, NH/Spalding High) and finally beating Spencer with a Power Play goal. For the night, Spencer turned aside 22 of the 26 shots he faced.
Down 3-1, BA crept closer when Dan MacInnes(Plymouth, MA/Plymouth North High) scored his first of the year. That would be as close as it would get as the Maniacs added an insurance goal late in the game. "Overall, we have some things to work on. Its a long season and hopefully the boys will continue to learn and develop. We didn't play with a sense of urgency and need to be more consistent with our physical play" said Meserve.
The "B" Teams next game will be in Northfield, VT when they take on the Norwich University Club Hockey Team Friday 7:00pm.

Photos on Facebook

Click this link to check out some pictures from the 7-2 victory over the Eastern Kodiaks on facebook!

Jr. A Goes 2-0 for the Weekend

The Jr. A Hockey team had a very successful weekend winning both of their contests. They started off against the Eastern Kodiaks in which they played hard and won 7-2.

Ryan Donovan (Bridgewater, MA) started off the scoring as he put away a pass from Tyler Albano (Beverly, MA) and Brendan Fitzpatrick (Winthrop, MA). Charlie Cobb (South Burlington, VT) and Matt Buckley (Canton, MA) then set up Ryan Kulik (Pembroke, MA) to score BA’s second goal of the game. At the end of the first period Brendan Moore (Springfield, MA) put away BA’s third goal of the game with assists from Dan Concannon (Everett, MA) and Brad McGovern (Haverhill, MA).

BA went into the 2nd period up 3-0 and ready to play. However, Eastern Kodiak was able to capitalize on a few mistakes on BA's part and sneak two goals by goalie Tyler Gallagher (Nahant, MA) and bring to score to a much closer 3-2. However, with under one minute left in the period, Albano scored with assists from Donovan and Alex Bartlett (South Burlington, VT) for BA giving them a two goal lead going into the final period.

In the third period BA was able to pull ahead. Bartlett started the final run with an unassisted goal with nine minutes left. Albano followed with a goal assisted by Dan Cushing (Wilmington, MA) and Donovan. Marco Spisso (Highland Falls, NY) tallied BA’s 7th goal of the night as he capitalized in passes from Ryan Menard (Ashland, MA) and Fitzpatrick. In net Gallagher saved 21 of 23 shots.

Coach Lounsbury was pleased with the guys performance. “I thought the boys came out hard and we controlled the game. Midway through the game we got a little too comfortable and let the Kodiaks back in it. We got away from doing the little things right and Gallagher kept us alive in net. We regrouped after the second period and figured it out by dominating the third period. Overall it was a good win but the guys need to learn to play for 60 minutes,” said Lounsbury.

The team didn’t get a break as they jumped right back into a game with the Boston Junior Bruins on Sunday which they won with a much closer score of 3-2.

“Poor Ice conditions and a bit of arrogance kept the game within reach for the Boston Bruins. Our team didn't have the jump we usually have. Concannon got the monkey off his back with two tallies and Cray made some great stops. Sean Yule’s text book 3 on 2 goal was huge as we pulled away with a decent win. All in all I'm happy with the wins and our work ethic,” said Lounsbury at the end of the weekend.

Concannon scored BA’s first goal of the game with assists by DJ Sullivan (Burlington, MA) and McGovern. Concannon then capitalized on passes from Menard and Moore to tally the Wolverines 2nd goal of the game. With the score tied at two, Sean Yule (West Newton, MA) scored the game winner with assists from Erik Burke (Manchester, NH) and Ryan Dooley (Topsfield, MA).

This week the team will travel to Vermont to take on the Glades on Wednesday the 20th at 3:30 P.M.

GOAL PROGRAM VISITS STEVENS BROOK

For the past three years, the Wolverine Hockey "GOAL" Program has visited Stevens Brook Elementary School and "Assisted" Teachers and Students in all areas of academic excellence. On Wednesday, Coach Mike Meserve and 8 Wolverine Players made their first visit to the school. Mrs. Tammy Clark's 1st grade class worked with Derek Spencer, Charlie Gendron and Tim Marshall on their reading. Mr. Jeffrey Brundage's 2nd grade class, worked in small reading groups with Dan MacInnes and Mike Clancy. Finally, Mrs. Karen Lepage's 3rd graders utilized Todd Brow, John Fitzgerald and Chris Watkins on their Town of Bridgton Mapping Project.
Students and players communicated well together. "The students really light up when they see the guys come in. It might be the closes thing to rock stars our players will ever get too. The Stevens Brook Students pay close attention and really focus when the hockey team visits" said Coach Mike Meserve.
After some hard work, each class was rewarded with a roster which player took time and walked around to autograph. "We usually try to make one or two visits every month. Our guys get to know some outstanding kids and form a bond with the classes" said Meserve. The "GOAL" Program is looking forward to their next visit real soon.