MVU Boys Hit Stride

Missisquoi freshman Jack Raleigh celebrates after scoring a second goal less than five minutes into Wednesday's 3-1 win against (#2) U-32. Photo courtesy of Shawn Corrow -- www.coldhollowphoto.com)

I don't know if anything tops a great basketball game for me. No equipment and the close proximity to the athletes makes the players seem so much more human and connects fans better than any other sport. The swing in a basketball game takes time, so you watch one team slowly climb the ladder and the other helplessly fall apart. But there's a different experience, one almost as good, in a great soccer or hockey game. Sometimes the team being beaten down puts together one nice play and just like that, it's a whole new ballgame. In basketball, it takes a few minutes for things to change. But in hockey, a game or even a season can turn in eight seconds.

Things haven't gone terribly smoothly for MVU's boys hockey team this season. It lost senior captain Matt Conger  to a broken femur. It's had games marred by penalties and lost to teams it should have beaten. After the Thunderbirds were shutout by Burr & Burton last week, the #2 team in Division II, U-32, was in a position to tip MVU's season to a terrible place tonight.

The Raiders won tonight's opening face-off and set up in its own zone to try making an early statement against a team I'm sure it expected to trounce. Missisquoi freshman Jack Raleigh didn't feel like waiting for the puck to come to his team; he blasted in and swiped the puck. U-32 never saw it coming. Raleigh moved in unopposed and put the Raiders in a 1-0 hole just eight seconds in.

Those who have seen MVU play a lot this season know that despite entering tonight just 9-7, the T-Birds have the firepower to knock off anyone. Tonight, before the Raider coaches had picked out a spot to stand on the bench, U-32 was realizing the same thing.

Just to prove it was no fluke, Missisquoi made sure anyone who hadn't been paying attention got a second chance to see how dangerous it can be. Four minutes and ten seconds after Raleigh's goal, Caleb Lothian won the puck behind his own net and skated end-to-end, blowing past five Raiders as he's done many times this year. By the time he got in front of the U-32 goal, everyone in the rink assumed he was going to fire a shot. Lothian must have realized this too, because he dished the puck to his right, where Raleigh kicked it to his stick and beat the shocked goaltender for the second time in the first five minutes.

I've heard it said this season that Lothian keeps the puck on his stick too long and doesn't give up the puck when he should. Anyone who thought that should have been paying close attention tonight.

With U-32 gaining some momentum by the third, Lothian again carried the puck end-to-end. He kept the puck on his stick as though it had a velcro attachment and moved down the right side in front of the Raider goal. Again, U-32 assumed Lothian was going to fire a shot and totally ignored Dylan Lafountain skating to the front of the net with enough free room around him to make snow angels. Lothian didn't miss him. Lafountain had no trouble making it a 3-0 game given a few feet of free space.

Yes, Lothian makes a habit of bringing the puck from one goal line to the other himself. He doesn't lose the puck on these runs any more than if MVU tried to pass the puck ahead, and he always draws multiple defensemen. When he finishes these trips with a pass instead of a shot, Missisquoi is nearly unstoppable. I don't know if there are many better all-around hockey players in Vermont than Lothian right now

While Raleigh and Lothian were the stars of the show tonight, it was the best team hockey I've seen the Thunderbirds play this season. Brian Fortin had to make some tough stops in goal against a team averaging 5.5 goals a game and he made almost every one, barely losing the shutout late in the third. It had to frustrate U-32 to see that he was catching or covering up every single thing they threw at him. Ryan Lothian had a beautiful defensive game, often ruining Raider chances long before they could get near Fortin. 

The best thing I saw from MVU tonight was its composure. There have been times this season when contractors have been called to provide estimates for a second story on the T-Bird penalty box. There have been games when Missisquoi focused so much on the refs or other team that it lost the focus on winning. I didn't see a hint of attitude tonight. The few penalties MVU took came in the flow of play and nobody argued about calls or non-calls. As the game went on, U-32 became frustrated and took a few cheap shots; Missisquoi responded by skating away and letting the referees take care of things. When a few Raider players tried to start some post-game shoving, the Thunderbirds just backed away, content with the victory.

Regardless of where MVU ends up in the playoff bracket, I'm confident no opponent wants to face the Thunderbird team I just watched. If Missisquoi stays focused on goals and has the maturity to ignore dirty play, gets into position to fire wide open shots when Lothian draws 3 defensemen after a coast-to-coast trip, has a brick wall and rebound-prevention expert in goal and avoids any more unnecessary suspensions among its best players, my money is on the Thunderbirds to hoist a trophy at Gutterson Fieldhouse in a month.