The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School varsity hockey team continued their undefeated start to the season in New Hampshire last weekend at the Heuchling and Swift Memorial Classic.
The Vineyarders, now 4-0-2 on the season, tied on Oyster River on Friday, Barrington High School on Saturday, and defeated St. Thomas Aquinas on Sunday, marking their 12th year participating in the memorial classic. The series, played at the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore Center, is named after Todd Heuchling and Brian Swift, two former Oyster River Bobcats who both died at a young age.
“It’s a great experience for the kids, and an interesting one because you are playing three games in three days, preparing yourself to play rather than being a typical high-school kid who wants to goof around or play xbox all day,” said Head Coach Matt Mincone.
The Vineyarders opened the weekend against Oyster River, last year’s state championship victors. The Vineyard took an early 1-0 lead before falling behind 2-1 and then finally tying it back up in the third period. Despite outshooting Oyster River 7-0 in overtime, the Vineyarders couldn’t break down their strong defense and the game ended in a 2-2 tie.
“We out shot them a ton but couldn’t break them down,“ said Coach Mincone. “Their Goalie was probably the player of the game.”
The second game of the weekend saw the Vineyarders square off against Barrington High School, a Division I team from Rhode Island. Mincone said that they were outplayed at times, but the two teams were overall evenly matched and the game ended in another 2-2 tie.
“They had two pretty good lines and a physical third, we matched up pretty well with them,” said Mincone. “Our goalie, Henry, (Wansiewicz, No. 30) played phenomenal. They had high quality shots and he made some great saves.”
In the final game, the Vineyarders defeated Division II private school out of New Hampshire, St. Thomas Aquinas, with a final score of 6-3. After a back and forth start, the Vineyard boys pulled away with a strong offensive performance.
The second line with the two freshmen — Donnie Gregory, (No. 12) and Ryan Heidt (No. 9), centered by junior Griff Callahan (No. 2) on the wings — “are really starting to get a good feel,” said Coach Mincone.
“Everyone did their jobs this weekend,” he added.
Looking ahead, the Vineyarders are preparing for a tougher portion of their schedule, taking on Saint John Paul II High School away on Saturday Jan. 4. Then it’s back home for a face off against a tough Barnstable High School, on Jan. 8.
“A couple things showed up in the tournament with lack of movement that we need to work on,” said Coach Mincone. “We need to remind this group that stationary hockey doesn’t work for us. The past few days in practice, everything was about movement.”
“Once our powerplay finds their rhythm, we are going to be dangerous,” added Mincone.
