Wildcats Edged by Reading in 'Super' Match Up

It’s been another great season for the Wilmington boys hockey team. But thanks to a pair of tough breaks on Saturday, it’s not likely to be a Super one for the Wildcats.

Wilmington likely needed to knock off No. 4 ranked Reading in order to keep itself in the conversation to become the first Division 2 team since Tewksbury in 1999 to earn a Super 8 invitation. But thanks to three unanswered goals, including the eventual game-winner with just over three minutes to play, the Rockets escaped with a 3-1 victory.

“For a Division 2 team, I think we would have had to run the table. Especially knocking off these guys would have been huge,” said head coach Steve Scanlon. “It’s OK. In a lot of ways, we feel like getting a chance to defend our title is big. So that’s where we’ll go from here.”

Brendan McDonough scored to give the Wildcats the momentum early, finding the back of the net less than five minutes into the contest. Reading, however, struck back to tie the game 38 seconds into the middle frame.

The third period saw two golden opportunities for Wilmington to tie the game. But the puck didn’t cross the goal line in either case, though one of those was more questionable than the other.

With 13:40 to go in the game, Luke Foley rifled a shot at what appeared to be an open net with the Reading goalie out of position. But the Rocket keeper flailed his goalie stick behind him, and chanced upon the puck to knock it high above the crossbar.

At the 8:55 mark in the final frame, a Wilmington shot trickled through the goaltender and seemed to cross over the goal line before the keeper pulled it back out with his glove. Wildcat skaters celebrated, but the referee blew no goal.

Rob Devaney fired home the eventual game-winner with 3:07 to go in the third period, and Matt McLelland added an empty netter from three-quarters ice off of the face off to seal the win.

“You want to get battle tested for the tournament and play the best teams you can on the way to the tourney,” said Scanlon. “This was a tournament atmosphere game. The building was packed; there was a lot of emotion. It helps the players start to get adjusted to what they’re going to see in the tournament.”

Though there’s an outside chance the Wildcats could still earn the Super 8 nod, they’ll likely settle for being the favorites in the Division 2 tournament. The bracket will be revealed this weekend.

Reading head coach Mark Doherty’s team, meanwhile, is all but assured of a spot in the Super 8. Though the Rockets have played plenty of strong Division 1 foes this year, it was the Division 2 Wildcats who were among the teams to most impress him.

“They’re excellent,” said Doherty. “They’re one of the better teams I’ve seen this year.”