Penalty Trouble Leads to Huskies Loss vs Vermont Academy

The New Hampton Huskies finished the Lakes Region Regular Season with a record of 9-2-1, earning them the second place. Second place allowed the Huskies to host third place, Vermont Academy, in the semi-finals of the Lakes Region Playoffs. From the moment, the puck dropped one could tell this was not an ordinary regular season game, both teams had turned their level of play up a notch. The first ten minutes the game was very physical, played at a feverish pace, with back and forth action. Just past the ten-minute mark, Vermont scored on the power play to take the early lead. Five minutes later, New Hampton’s hard work led to Vermont taking a penalty. On the power play, Michael Ardagna fired a shot that deflected off a couple people in front and made its way to the back of the net, tying the game at one, with just over a minute remaining in the period. New Hampton started the second period a little sluggish and Vermont was able to capitalize, taking the lead back, just under three minutes into the period. Vermont’s goal seemed to be the wake-up call the Huskies needed. Three minutes later, Jackson Kyser’s shot from the point deflected off of Jake Dunlap and into the back of the net, tying the game at two. Two minutes after New Hampton scored to tie the game, they took a penalty, giving Vermont a chance to take back the lead on the power play. A minute into the Huskies penalty, Vermont did just that, scoring a power play goal to take back the lead with eight minutes remaining in the period. The rest of the period, New Hampton worked hard to try an even the score, but they were unable beat the Vermont goaltender. The Huskies came out hard to start the third period, looking to score that all important next goal and tie the game at three. New Hampton’s ambition to score the next goal caused them to fight a little too hard, resulting in the Huskies taking penalties. New Hampton took two penalties, about ten minutes into the period, putting Vermont on a 5 against 3 power play. Vermont scored on the power play and increased their lead to two. Right after Vermont scored, the Huskies took two more penalties, giving Vermont another 5 against 3 power play. Vermont was able to score again on the power play, putting the game out of reach for the Huskies, down three with only two minutes left in the game. A disappointing 5-2 loss for the Huskies in the semi-finals of the Lakes Region Playoffs. New Hampton will look to rebound tomorrow as they host Holderness School in the Consolation game, before preparing for the NEPSAC Small School Tournament next week.