Wildcats Suffer First Loss in Physical Tilt With Reading

After failing to convert on either of its two previous power plays on the night, the Reading Rockets boys hockey team picked a fine time to snap the slump.

With 2:39 remaining in the third period of what was then a 2-2 game, sophomore Jake Barbera corralled a rebound near the Wilmington goal and snuck a low shot past the left foot of Wildcats’ netminder Drew Foley to give the Rockets an emotional 3-2 win in a Middlesex League crossover tilt Wednesday night at the Nelson S. Burbank Ice Arena.

Bob Dente and Rob Devaney (goal, assist) assisted on the decisive tally, while the power play came by virtue of Wilmington’s Cam Collins being whistled for roughing with 4:06 remaining. Barbera (goal, assist) broke the deadlock with three seconds left on the power play.

“The difference was penalties,” said Wilmington head coach Steve Scanlon. “Even the ones where they didn’t score, we wore ourselves out killing penalties.”

Scanlon said that, without the decisive Reading power play, he felt his team could have easily left with a draw.

“That late in the game, I think we’re tied without that power play,” he said. “I’m proud of my guys, though ... We hung in there and we gave them everything we had. It was a great game.”

What ended in triumph for Reading (2-1-1), could very easily have taken a tragic turn. The Rockets first power play of the night came at quite a price: one of Reading’s key defenders. With 9:03 left in the second, and the Rockets up 2-1, Chris Brown took possession of the puck behind his own net and skated into the corner, where he was met by Wilmington’s Brendan McDonough, who delivered a vicious hit from behind that drove Brown face first into the boards.

The Reading skaters immediately motioned for the trainer to respond, as the crowd went silent. It became quickly apparent that Brown’s injury was serious; he immediately flashed the crowd the “thumbs up,” and the relief in the arena was palpable.

According to RMHS Athletic Trainer Erica Sanchez, Brown was complaining of neck pain, and, due to the nature of the hit, the possibility of concussion was very real. She indicated that Brown was alright, but was transported by the Reading Fire Department to Winchester Hospital as a precautionary measure.

Reading’s coach indicated that, as one would expect, the incident had a detrimental effect on the Rockets intensity.

“[Chris Brown] is one of their buddies, everyone was worried about him,” said Doherty. “The period was going great until that hit, after that, it still went pretty well, but we weren’t quite as high tempo.”

Scanlon also spoke about the after effects of the hit on Brown.

“I thought it was a bang-bang play, with no maliciousness involved,” he said. “Actually, the break did us good, because I thought it slowed them down a little bit.”

The Wildcats (1-1-1) wasted little time in asserting themselves on the road, drawing first blood just 5:39 into the contest. A scrum in front of the Reading goal resulted in a loose puck that the Rockets defense failed to clear and Wilmington’s Trevor Foley pounced on it, slotting it past junior goaltender Evan Morelli to stake the visitors to a 1-0 lead.

The Rockets jumped all over Wilmington during the penultimate period, and Devaney got on the end of a Barbera centering pass and potted the equalizer just 49 seconds into the second period. Just over three minutes later, RMHS junior Brian Shea cleaned up a Ryan Thomson shot attempt to put the home side ahead, 2-1.

After the incident involving the hit on Brown, the game restarted, and Wilmington found its equalizer with less than 30 seconds left in the stanza—a power play strike by Luke Foley, with 11 seconds left before the Rockets were back at full strength.

“All things considered, it was a pretty good effort for us,” Scanlon said. “Some chances we didn’t get, but the same goes for [Reading].”

Reading outshot Wilmington 20 to 13 on the night.