Portledge in the Now.

Portledge Boys Hockey Clinch MAHL Playoff Spot!

Jonah Hirschwerk '20 & Athletic Department
Do or die. All or nothing. Win and you're in. That was the chatter around campus Monday morning. And if you were amongst the crowd when night fell at Beaver Dam, you would know that the Portledge Boys Varsity Hockey team did just that. Win.
Senior night was the night of the comeback as Portledge would score 4 unanswered goals giving them the 5-4 victory over league foe Wyoming Seminary. With the win, Portledge can breathe easy as they clinch a playoff spot and will face-off against number one seed Lawrenceville come next Wednesday in the MAHL semi-final.

After the ceremony celebrating seniors Cole Balacek, Spencer Hazen, and goaltender Vincent Salgado, the Panthers took the ice in which would be the most exciting home game of the season.  Just 8 minutes into the game, Portledge found themselves on the man advantage. On that power play, Boston University commit Jeremy Wilmer ‘21 got things started for the guys, as he opened up the scoring. However, like we see often with the Panthers, they weren’t able to maintain the lead for very long as the Knights were able to tie things up 1:40 later. Things went from bad to worse as Portledge let the momentum slip from there hands and right into those of Wyoming. In the last :30 seconds of the period, the Knights were able to rattle off 2 goals, taking the energy out of the team and the crowd. However, not all hope was lost as head coach Pasko Skarica told me, “I told the guys before the game that this was their first playoff game. We stuck to these words and even though we found ourselves down, we held our confidence steady. They believed in themselves the whole way..”

With not all hope lost, the boys needed at least one tally in the second frame to have a fighting shot. However, just 2:30 into that period, Wyoming put a dagger into the hearts of the Panthers going up by three. But you know what they say, a three goal lead is the worst lead to have in hockey. This statement held true as the guy everyone expected to bring his team back did just that. Junior and scoring sensation Brandon Avezov put his team right back in it with 2 eye-opening goals in the span of 1:40, the second one being short handed. When asked about the scoring threat #19 in blue is, Coach Skarica told me, “He’s a real skilled and talented forward, but he’s also a great leader. You know, you're right, when he is out on the ice, he is a scoring threat. He’s done that for us all year and it’s great to have him out there leading our offense.” So in the blink of an eye, Portledge found themselves in a one goal game, setting up for an amazing third period.

The third and final frame brought nothing but energy for the Panthers and their fans as Portledge controlled the 17 minutes. It didn’t take long at all for ‘Ledge to lock things up at 4 a piece as Wilmer ‘21 would add his second of the night. For the next 6 minutes, play was back and forth with great saves at both ends of the ice, especially by Portledge net-minder Justin Porino ‘21 as he stopped everything he saw for the last 31 minutes of the hockey game. But with six and change left, Brandon Avezov ‘20 completed his second hat trick in a row in league play as he scored on the power play, punching the Panthers ticket to the postseason. That goal would be the game winner as that was all the boys needed to complete the amazing comeback.

The Road to the MAHL Championship isn’t over yet. In fact, it’s just getting started. When I asked Coach Skarica how far his squad could go, he said “We hope all the way! It’s a quick playoff: a semifinal and a final. That semifinal is against a great team in their building but the guys are already looking forward to it. We just have to keep carrying the momentum.” Next Wednesday, the boys will take to the ice in the semifinal game against Lawrenceville as they hope to seek revenge and head to the championship.
 
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