Churchill Nets Three in Third Period to Defeat Wootton

Through two periods Friday night, made most of the spectators at Rockville Ice Arena not really notice that the Churchill Bulldogs had 19 more shots on goal than the Patriots.

That's because sophomore goalie Jake Mitchell managed to deny every single one of those 24 shots on goal through the first 30 minutes of play, keeping the score tied at zero heading into the final period.

But that's when Churchill's penetration began to pay off and two quick scores that came 45 seconds apart helped propel the undefeated Bulldogs to a 3-0 win over the Patriots in a league contest that served as the Patch Game of the Week.

"I thought we controlled the play and I am proud of the way our kids played," Churchill coach Ray McKenzie said afterward. "I would've liked to have gotten a few more goals early but Jake's a great goalie. It's just one of those things where eventually a goal is going to get in."

Churchill had been buzzing around the Wootton end nearly all night but couldn't capitalize on any of the Bulldogs' scoring opportunities until David Fitzgerald found Aaron Shapiro, who slipped a wrist shot past Mitchell just 1:39 into the final period.

Less than a minute later, after winning the ensuing faceoff, Christopher Lai accepted a pass from Noah Fleishman and Lai found the back of the net to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead with 12:46 remaining in the game.

An Avi Kallmeyer goal with 6:27 left sealed the win for the defending MSHL state champions. 

Mitchell (34 saves) did all he could to keep the Patriots in the game through the first two periods, turning away shot after shot. Meanwhile, Wootton never seemed to get anything going offensively despite several scoring chances late, including multiple 5-on-3 powerplay chances (6-on-3 at times as Wootton pulled its goalie to get an extra skater) in the final minutes of the third period.

But Wootton failed to capitalize on the two-man advantage opportunities and Churchill (6-0) escaped with its third shutout of the season. Churchill finished with 37 shots on goal to Wootton's 11. 

Despite the lack of scoring through two periods, it was an aggressively played game by both teams, even chippy at times. In the first period, both teams had players draw 10-minute misconduct penalties. But it was the lack of scoring opportunities that Wootton will likely be focusing on this week as the Patriots get ready to face Sherwood this Friday. 

"We just have to execute. As the season goes along, I think we've made some improvements as far as playing together as a team. But we're not going to win too many games with only 11 shots on goal," senior captain Anthony Corini said after the game. "But I feel like we're taking steps in the right direction."

Wootton was skating without two of its top defenders on Friday -- sophomores Jordy Bretner and Austin Schoenfeld, who was away on a recruiting trip for lacrosse. Wootton coach Dave Evans said their absence was clearly felt, but did not attribute the loss specifically because of it. Evans said that his team's lack of experience in playing together continues to be a prevailing issue for Wootton.

"I think you saw our youth out there. We just had a lot of trouble getting good possessions established. We didn't have good, sustained possessions anywhere on the ice," Evans said. "But give them credit. They outworked us. Their physical play was several levels up from ours. They beat us on loose pucks and contested pucks and that showed in the shot differential." 

Despite the loss, which drops Wootton to 2-5-1 on the season, Evans continues to draw positives each week.

"A lot of young guys got to play a lot of minutes and gain valuable experience playing against the top team, whereas most years, they would be on the bench watching a game like this," the long-time Wootton coach said. "A freshman playing 18 minutes against a team like this...by the time they are seniors, they won't be intimidated by what they see on the ice."