On Friday, October 25^th, MCLA got their first exhibition match of the season in against the Keene State Owls. This was the second exhibition match in NCAA III history for Keene State, and their first against an NCAA opponent, following their Tuesday night defeat against the EHL All Stars by a score of 5-3. Due to a lack of scorekeeping records available from this game due it being an NCAA III exhibition match, Keene State scorers and any MCLA non-goal scorer does not have any statistics committed to record for us to reference; however, we did catalog MCLA’s goal scorers on our x account in real time during the contest.

               The first period of the game saw Keene State get out to a hotter start the Trailblazers would have liked, but was to be anticipated since the Owls did already have a game under their belt this season, and in typical Twogood-fashion, the Trailblazers were on the penalty kill within the first minute of the game. MCLA survived the opening penalty kill but were unable to generate any notable chances or breakouts in the first half of the period. Finally, an Owls defender made an error and didn’t receive a pass cleanly, and instead of cutting inside to place his body on the puck to protect it, he retreated to wall to have a cleaner angle on the puck. With a weak grip on the puck and too much time spent repositioning, Sean Schifferl cleanly stole the puck, charged through the neutral zone undisturbed, and unleashed a wrister that gave MCLA their first lead of the game. The first period would end without many other high impact plays; however, it is worth noting that Luke Rhoss began a reign of terror against the Owls this period by being inseparable from the puck on zone entries along the wall.

               The second period looked more like the MCLA of the 2023-24 season, as the group ended up cutting a bit of a rut to the penalty box. In a 4-on-4 situation, Keene State was able to equalize the score at one, after having a 30-second possession sequence in the offensive zone that the Trailblazers just didn’t have any answers for. However, differing from the early portions of last season, MCLA’s powerplay has fangs of its own. In a well-executed sequence that started with a 5-on-3 powerplay, the Trailblazers were able to effectively work the puck to the net front with multiple high-danger scoring chances, and Easton Moore was able to finish the effort from blue paint without anyone committing goaltender interference to bring their lead back to one. However, this lead would not survive the period, as Keene State would find the equalizer on an unlucky break for the Trailblazers. An Owls forward ripped a shot high and wide over the net, but in TD Garden fashion, the puck careened off the middle of the glass and directly back onto the shooter’s stick to take advantage of Gover having already moved to stop more accurate shot on the first attempt.

               The third period was tightly contested by both teams from the jump, with MCLA continuing to be the better team at even strength. Early in the period, MCLA’s strong team play and forechecking would be rewarded on a go-ahead goal from Charlie Addesa. From there, at even strength, the Trailblazers team-defense and goaltending was solid. However, in typical 2023-24 MCLA fashion, they found themselves shorthanded protecting a lead late in a game. Keene State equalized the game on a late power play on a shot through traffic that hit at least 2 or 3 players/objects before gliding past Gover. However, after the tying goal, MCLA was in control for the rest of regulation. A notable play with around 3 minutes in the period was Jack Bortle’s aggressive play in the neutral zone leading to a Keene State offside that killed the Owls’ last surge of offensive momentum in the period.

               The overtime period lasted less than three minutes. Keene State maintained possession for most of the time in the 3-on-3, but despite their possession and multiple resets to get on the attack, they were unable to create any possessions or dangerous scoring chances. MCLA won a single puck battle along the wall to gain possession, and the Owls first mistake in the OT period would be their last. Connor Nagy would take the puck up through the neutral zone in a 2-on-1 and bury a beautiful shot to bring the game to its conclusion. In my MCLA season preview I talked about how the defense adding scoring would be crucial to this team’s success this year, and I’m ecstatic to see that Nagy was able to tease the Trailblazers are up to the task.

               Overall, the Trailblazers look primed for a highly competitive season in 2024-25. It was clear through 60+ minutes of hockey that the group has grown a lot in terms of maturity, physicality, hockey sense, and patience. At no point did it feel like anyone on the team was chasing the game or trying too hard to make a play to get something going, but rather they relied on their experience, their system, and each other to dictate and flow with the momentum of the game. Even when the group had extended defensive zone time, the group never cheated on their defensive zone responsibilities or took sloppy penalties from trying to force an outcome and were able to force the Owls into mistakes to get their breakouts started. If this is the MCLA team we see every night this season, no team on their schedule is going to enjoy playing against them.