Holliston 2, Medway 2: Panthers Match Mustangs' Muscle

One thing was certain Saturday night when the Holliston hockey team took on Medway in a Tri-Valley League contest: nothing was going to come easy.

In what was a most physical of hockey games, the Panthers tied the Mustangs 2-2 behind a pair of goals from Max Turcotte and some late third period-saves from goalie Chris Lamont.

Holliston moved to 4-5-3 (2-4-3 TVL) but played considerably better than in . The Panthers displayed great team hockey throughout and, if not for a five-minute span to open the final period, would have skated away with the victory.

It seemed that both teams' physicality was there from the opening face-off as Holliston clearly controlled the flow early on. Lamont, along with Medway goalie Paul McCauley, did a nice job in the first period to keep the game scoreless.

"The team was firing on all cylinders," said Holliston coach Rick LeBlanc. "They were dumping the puck in, chasing it and working hard."

As the penalty minutes began to pile up early in the second period, the Panthers were slowly gaining momentum as they matched Medway's aggressiveness. Captain John Georgallas, Eric Witunski, and Brody Mankus all did a nice job for Holliston on power plays which eventually led to their first goal.

Off a face-off to McCauley's left, Turcotte scored his first goal on an assist from Georgallas. At first, the referee was going to disallow the tally but after consulting with his partner, the goal stood for a 1-0 Panthers lead three minutes in.

"Playing Medway is always a really physical game and it's good to see the boys come out like that," said LeBlanc. "Obviously, you'd like to come out of this with a win but they worked hard."

Roughly midway through the second period, Medway captain Jake O'Rourke was given a four-minute major penalty for a viscious hit to Holliston's Liam Murphy. This seemed to fire up the Panthers even more as they proceeded to get great shots on goal, pouncing on the loose pucks and creating opportunities in the offensive zone.

With three minutes remaining in the second, Turcotte broke in alone on McCauley and gave Holliston the 2-0 advantage.

Medway did not go down without a fight, however, as O'Rourke finally put the Mustangs on the board to open the third period on a wrister from the slot to beat Lamont.

"We knew, in the third period, they were going to come back strong," said LeBlanc. "They're a great team."

About four minutes later, Jack Kilty tied the game for Medway on a terrific goal as he split a pair of Holliston defenders and shot the puck past Lamont.

The Panthers mounted a furious effort to score the game-winner in the final minutes but Medway's Nick DeCristoforo and McCauley continuously denied Holliston's chances.

Zach Mason and Georgallas were among the Panthers with solid scoring opportunities late, but it just wasn't meant to be.

"I thought we were going to stuff one in at the end," said LeBlanc. "But besides the skaters, I think the busiest person in the rink tonight was the trainer."