Wolves Win Over Titans

By Jay Harris 

The Watertown Wolves hosted the Danbury Titans at the Watertown Municipal Arena Friday night. A Wolves win would secure their third place standing in the Federal Hockey League. Wolves fans were excited to see the return of Shane Halas, Brad Townsend, and team captain Brett Liscomb. 

The teams spent the first period getting a feel for each other, as each had new players with some different lineups. Each team successfully killed their two power plays.            

The second period goals all went to Watertown. Kyle Powell would have scored the first goal, but the officials declared him off sides even though he was the only Wolf over the blue line. Mark Petaccio instead scored the first goal on a play from Jesse Facchini and Brett Liscomb. The first fight of the night broke out between Zach Dymock and Matt Graham. The second goal of the period came when Jason Dolgy and Brett LIscomb set Ryan Connolly up to score. Jesse Facchini would make the score 3-0 with just twenty seconds left in the second period on assists from Brett LIscomb and Jesse Facchini. 

Danbury would deliver the first blow in the third period on a goal from Taylor Bourne. The score would remain unchanged until there were six minutes left in the period. Ryan Connolly got some help from Kyle Powell and Jason Dolgy with his second goal of the night. Jason Dolgy would get his first goal as Wolf thirty seconds later with assistance from Brett Liscomb and Mark Pettaccio. Ryan Connolly would earn a hat trick as he put the final nail in the Titans coffin on a pass from Scott Roy. Vadim Subbotnikov and Shane Halaas would duke it out in the last minute of the period. The Wolves maintained their third place standing in the Federal Hockey League with a score of 6-1. 

Head Coach Phil Esposito shared the following comments after the game. "It' one of those nights where we came out and we're doing things we're supposed to be doing. The confidence is there. I mean, you see guys like Connolly shooting the puck and getting three goals there. We got ourselves over the hurdle now. We got ourselves to the point where the guys are playing together. They're confident with each other. The guys are standing up for each other on the ice and we're playing solid D. Our goaltending is unbelievable. We turned the corner and now we have to make that push for the playoffs here. We can't get away from what we're doing and get over confident. We'll play that physical game and grind it out." 

The three stars of the game all went to Watertown. Ryan Connolly's hat trick helped him earn the first star. Jason Dolgy was honored the second, and Brett Liscomb was given the third. The Wolves will be back at the Watertown Municipal Arena on Friday, February 10 as they face the Cornwall Nationals. The game starts at 7:30 pm.