This game certainly featured plenty of sturm und drang (befitting for a game wherein MCLA bench boss Jeremiah Ketts “returned home” to his former institution) and the end result was most certainly earned by the victors, despite the arduous start. The first stanza saw the Corsairs give Mathew Gover plenty to do, with the home team outshooting the Trailblazers 21-8 and seeming to control possession. Before the first goal of the game was even scored, Gover would surpass the 600 save threshold for the season. In a turn of events reminiscent of their last effort against Fitchburg State on Saturday, the Trailblazers surrendered 2 goals in 8 seconds (a power play goal by Michael Perrone and in such a rapid sequence of events six minutes into the second. However, this was not a backbreaker, as it would turn out. The comeback effort and overall performance in this game highlighted a lot of strengths for this group. All told, despite being out-shot 48-27, we did see the group determined to press and even out the play and throw pucks at the net (with seven different players ultimately credited with at least 2 SOGs, which is a respectable tally for a team that was out-shot 36-16 over the first two frames) when seizing control of the game. Ultimately, the most crucial goals (Cade Herrera’s PPG that tied it at 2 and Sean “Knuble” Schifferl’s OT GWG) were scored due in part to players understanding the assignment, executing and positioning themselves well, but it all came back to aggression on the attack. To highlight one particular individual performance, Cody White (who I will herein dub “Blake” due to his reminding me of current Calgary Flame/former Tampa Bay Lightning essential depth forward Blake Coleman with his two-way skill and motor) put in an outstanding effort with his energy and deserves lauding for his performance and essential role in getting the comeback started with their first goal, as well as keeping MCLA in the game via strong backchecking and defensive tenacity.

To examine Mathew Gover’s play beyond just the raw data, we did see quite a bit of his traditional positioning and reading of the game (which are somewhat reminiscent, dare I say, of a one-time big figure in Massachusetts/New England college hockey, Connor Hellebuyck), as well as some flash from him when the situation called for it. When posting a .958 SV% on 48 shots, you are inevitably going to have really rise to the occasion, and he did just that. Even though MCLA had better control over the pace of play and possession as the game went on, he did have to make some key saves, but he kept a cool head and handled that just fine while displaying some fire to him, as well. This game demonstrated Gover’s competitive spirit and clutch abilities.

Overall, what this showed in the group is a heavy dose of intestinal fortitude, as well as an ability to keep playing their brand of hockey when the chips are down (in a road game against a strong conference opponent, no less). I will not repeat it verbatim, but I am reminded somewhat of a quote from current Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella from this season after a comeback victory against in-state rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins. If you have kept up closely with the NHL’s Metropolitan Division this year, you know exactly which quote I am referring to. They have a tough test on Saturday against the Plymouth State Panthers at home, but they will assuredly go into it knowing they can weather storms and compete. They may or may not have control over the result, ultimately, but they can control how certain narratives and events go in the game and they will almost certainly have that in mind and at heart. I am excited to watch.