This season the Wellesley Applejacks have often offered up fleeting moments of brilliance, single periods with eager players doggedly determined to reverse their record in what is now, by all accounts, an abysmal season.
Too often, however, those bright moments have quickly faded over the course of an entire hockey game, eventually overshadowed by periods full of consistent errors, a lack of fluidity, and a massive loss of concentration.
In short, this season the Applejacks have encountered some good moments but little in the way of final results.
“We’ve had a season of good signs, but we’re not putting anything together,” said general manager Dave Litt after his team picked up a win against Ayr (7-4) Jan. 15, a 4-3 shootout loss against Hagersville Jan. 16, and a 6-5 loss to Ayr on Sunday.
Despite snapping a 14 game losing streak with an 8-4 shellacking of the Tavistock Braves on Jan. 9, the Jacks have been unable to knit together a streak of wins since a four-win stretch in October.
The Jacks are now 2-2-1 since the match against Tavistock. Not bad, but not good enough for the coaching staff.
“We’ve got some good moments, there’s no doubt about it. If we can put 60 minutes together, we’ll be a team to be reckoned with. But until that happens, we’re going to have these shortcomings,” said Litt, who described his team’s effort this weekend as “on and off.”
In the game against Hagersville, the Jacks, with a sporadically valiant effort, put on a show for their home fans, taking on the Hawks in a suspenseful contest.
Wellesley’s Rob Bolger got things going in the first period, combining with Eric Parr at 1:08 to make it 1-0, giving the home fans reason to hope. Meanwhile, netminder Luke Zehr kept his boys in the game, stopping a total of 43 out of 46 shots.
In the second period, Aaron Knol, from Scott Hanley and Mike Moggy, made it 2-0 for Wellesley at 2:57.
Hagersville’s David Watson scored his team’s first at 18:09 and the plot suddenly thickened; Jay Pepper picked up the assist.
Ben Jefferies, from Mike Moggy and Eric Davidson, made it 3-1 for Wellesley at 19:02. It was a great way to end the second period.
Unfortunately for the Jacks, their second period gusto seemingly disappeared, and at 8:24 of the third frame, Hagersville’s Bob Neilson, from Jesse Sommers and Jake Deuxberry, made it 3-2. Darren Drehmer tied the game at 9:15, combining with David Watson to make it 3-3.
Neither team, despite battling hard and keeping the opposing goalie occupied, was able to nab the game’s two points in the third, and so, the game went into over time. That extra frame also proved futile and the teams headed to a shootout.
Both goalies stopped the first attempt.
The tension was high, the fans sat tautly on the edge of their seats as the second round began: both shooters found the mesh.
The third round saw both goalies, again, stand up tall, and so a fourth round ensued. This time, however, the Jacks fired blanks whereas Hagersville scored.
On Sunday, the Jacks found themselves on the other end of a formidable lead early in the game.
Four unanswered goals in the opening period had the Jacks facing an uphill battle in the second frame.
Wellesley’s Chris Armstrong, from Shawn Fitzpatrick, gave his team its first goal at 4:47. Ayr replied shortly after, however, as Tyler Gauthier, from Kyle Longpre and Andrew Tapsell, made it 5-1 at 5:06. Before the second stanza was over however, Wellesley’s Dan Berwick (Jefferies) and Read Shantz (Berwick) potted one each to make it a 5-3 game.
In the third and final frame, Matt Snyder (Scott Hanley) and Jeff McAllister (Bolger, Scott Litt) potted one each to make it a 5-5 game.
Unfortunately for the Wellesley side, Ayr’s Andrew Tapsell combined with Jeff Chambers and Tyler Gauthier to give his team the 6-5 advantage at 13:32. The Jacks battled back to get into the game but had no such luck.
Now that the season is winding to an end, the Jacks, who will make the playoffs regardless of their performance this season (every team in the Bauer conference has a guaranteed berth in the playoffs), have just one priority: preparing a mindset that will enable them to take on any team in the playoffs.
“The priority right now is tightening it up and getting a full 60 minutes, and getting people to mentally prepare for the hockey games; to be ready to go and be mentally into it for 60 minutes and keep their emotions in check,” said Litt.
The Jacks (7-20-5) will play either Tavistock or Thamesford, depending on whether they surpass Ayr (13-14-3). To do that, the Jacks, who have at least eight games remaining on the regular schedule (not counting rematches), will have to win the majority of those contests.
“Can we do that? It’s still mathematically, I think, viable; but if we continue to play the way we are right now it definitely won’t happen,” said Litt.
“If we continue to play the way we are right now playoffs will be short run; if we can start mentally preparing for the hockey games and get 60 minutes … we can still do some damage, and make some noise in the playoffs.”
The Jacks play host to the Thamesford Trojans Friday night, then regroup as the Port Dover Sailors arrive in Wellesley for a match Saturday night. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
