Playing against struggling Dedham was supposed to be just what the Norwood High boys hockey team needed in its first contest since having players leave the ice on a stretcher in consecutive contests.
The Mustangs had spent the weekend off the ice, postponing its scheduled date with Framingham after its game against Milton was suspended due to a severe concussion sustained by Chris O’Brien, hoping some time away from the rink would do them a bit of good.
But the visiting Marauders nearly ruined the feel-good story by keeping Norwood at bay, playing the Mustangs even deep into the third period until Brendan Cathcart and Adam Kewriga made sure that Norwood’s return would be a successful one.
Cathcart took a clearance attempt by Bernie Girard along the boards in the Dedham zone and zipped a pass in front to Kewriga, who popped a shot into the top left corner and past John Kotkowski for the eventual game-winning goal with 1:11 remaining as the Mustangs pulled out a 3-1 win over rival Dedham at Metropolis Rink with O’Brien in attendance, standing next to his fellow inactive teammates while wearing a neck brace.
“In the third period they started to play and in the last five minutes they said, ‘Hey, we’ve gotta pick it up,’” said a relieved Mustangs coach Bill Clifford. “They picked it up in the third and got those two.”
Going against their age-old rivals, the contest featured more hitting than the previous game against Milton just four days after Matt Brown fractured two vertebrae when his head hit the boards.
Norwood improved to 7-3-1 in the Bay State Conference and 8-5-2 overall. With five games left to play in the regular season, the Mustangs need two points to qualify for the MIAA Division 1 South sectional tournament. They stand three points behind Wellesley for the Herget Division lead with a game in hand on the Raiders.
After sleepwalking through the second period and finding themselves tied with Dedham, which earned a tie last year against the Mustangs derailing their division title bid, the Mustangs came out and dominated the final 15 minutes, controlling play territorially and outshooting Dedham 11-3 (25-16 for the game).
With chances throughout the third going narrowly wide or being stopped by Kotkowski, it had all the appearances of a disappointing single point. But Kewriga finishing by himself on the doorstep following the turnover set off a wild celebration in the crowd, and when Tyler Gover slid the puck into the empty net just as the final horn sounded, a group pig pile ensued at the Dedham blue line.
“We talk about at the defensive blue line getting it out and at the offensive blue line getting it in, and that was the perfect example. We had two chances two get it in and we didn’t get it in, turn it over and they get it down and we turn it over again (resulting in the goal),” said Marauders coach Paul Podolski, whose squad is 2-14 overall and 0-13 in the BSC. “If we get the puck in deep, we’ve got a chance to win the game.”
Dedham carried the play for much of the second period and were rewarded for their efforts at the 7:40 mark. Bobby Sennott kept the puck in at the right point and sent a shot toward the net, teammate Jason Riley stopped the puck, wheeled around and slid it through the legs of Ryan Gray.
Keady gave Norwood a lead, tipping Brian Girard’s shot from the left point at 6:45 of the first between the pads of Kotkowski.
Dedham hosts Brookline on Saturday, still in search of a point in the league. The Marauders took a 3-0 decision from the Warriors in the consolation game of the Petruzziello Plaza Tournament on Dec. 29.
(Keith Pearson is Staff Writer for the Norwood Transcript & Bulletin. He can be reached at (781) 433-8371 or kpearson@cnc.com.)
