Sports
VIDEO: Athletes of the Week, Freshmen Backstops Harring and Thompson
Hamilton-Wenham ninth graders Brett Harring and Grant Thompson carry the load in net for the Witches hockey team.
Ninth graders Brett Harring and Grant Thompson have taken different paths, but both roads have led them into the net for the Salem Witches hockey team.
The Witches are a co-operative hockey team made up of skaters from and Salem.
Harring took the conventional road to becoming a goalie - he put on the pads as a mite for the Agawam Warriors, comprised of players from Hamilton, Wenham, Manchester and Ipswich. Thompson plays goalie on the lacrosse team, and finally convinced his parents to let him try goalie on the ice this season.
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Both 14-year-olds live in Hamilton and are thrilled to be seeing varsity duty as freshman.
“It’s great, I love the action,” Harring said. “I’d rather see 50 shots and win 2-1 than see 10 shots and get a shutout.”
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“It’s so much more rewarding, so much more exciting to see a lot of shots, to get a lot of action," Harring said. "The more shots the better.”
Harring’s career highlight so far is winning MVP at the Bell Capital Cup tournament in Ottawa, where he allowed only one goal against a select squad from Russia.
“I started out as a forward, but I wanted to play goalie, like my brother Kyle did,” Harring said.
Nineteen-year-old Kyle Harring played goalie for Matignon High School. Brett’s dad Mike has been skating with Brett since he was a toddler.
“Kyle’s always giving me pointers, helping me out with angles and positioning, stuff like that,” Harring said.
Thompson has always wanted to be a goalie in any sport because he “likes stopping things.”
“I wanted to be a hockey goalie first, before I took up lacrosse, but my parents were against it,” Thompson said. “They finally gave in this year, and it’s awesome to be out there.”
“Brett’s a good goalie, he pushes me all the time to get better, to work harder, which I really appreciate,” Thompson said.
The Witches were winless last season, but have improved quite a bit since Harring and Thompson put on the red and black.
The Witches swept the season series with Everett, winning 2-1 and 5-3; Harring and Thompson split the duties in both victories.
Both players share something else besides a burning desire to win and make saves, they both like Italian food for their pre-game meal.
Harring loads up on chicken parmigiana, while Thompson reaches for a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce.
