Martlets Defeat Rhinos

Third Boys Hockey took to the road one more time before a short homestand to finish the month of January. This afternoon’s opponent was the Taft Rhinos. After a close one-goal loss last season, anticipation was high for this year’s matchup. Despite their excitement to play, the Martlets got off to a bit of a slow start—word from a Founders League insider was that the chilly temps of Mays Rink might have impacted the boys’ legs. Fortunately, an unassisted, short-handed goal by Teddy Russell ‘26 evened the score at one before the end of the first period. Most of the second period was scoreless, largely due to the play of junior goaltender Nick Lopriore (15/17). Notably, Lopriore made a fantastic save on a breakaway opportunity at the six-minute mark. However, Taft managed to solve Lopriore for a second goal just a few minutes later. What no one saw coming was a two-goal outburst by Westminster in the final minute of the period. Carsten Matthews ‘28 found the back of the net with a low wrist shot from the point at the 14:44 mark. Junian Kim ‘26 recorded the assist on the play. After winning the ensuing face-off, Lorny Goodyear ‘25 took a pass from Cooper Kraus ‘25, skated the puck over the offensive blue line, and put a seeing-eye wrist shot past the Rhino goaltender just before the horn sounded. After further review, replay officials in Toronto upheld the goal. Westminster capitalized on their momentum and played a strong third period. Will Gallagher ‘27 extended the lead to 4-2 with the assist going to Russell, and Kraus finished the scoring with an empty net goal in the final seconds of play. The 5-2 win was a tremendous team effort from players up and down the lineup. The Martlets are back in action for their first home game on Friday, Jan. 31st, vs. Simsbury High School JV.