LITTLETON — Bromfield knew from the moment they stepped off the bus that they had their work cut out for them. Three lightning quick first-quarter goals by the Tigers sent the Trojans into a shock that they could not recover from, as they fell 13-2 at Littleton Thursday.
Bromfield’s gameplan was to try and lull the Tigers into a defensive shell and control the ball in their attacking zone. Unfortunately for the Trojans, that did not happen.
Bromfield head coach Joe Gatto said Thursday’s loss to Littleton was a good learning experience for his team.
“They schooled us on offense,” said Gatto. “I told the guys they move, they score, and that’s what we need to do. The gameplan was to try and control the ball more. We could not clear the ball. When we got the ball in our end, we couldn’t control it. They must have controlled the ball 80 percent of the game.”
Bromfield junior goalie Preston Wilkey stonewalled a season high 28 shots.
“I think we over committed and we were too spread out,” said Wilkey on the Trojans’ defensive effort. “If we play them next time, we need to be a little more compact on defense and have more communication.”
Bromfield had all sorts of trouble in the faceoff circle, as Littleton controlled the draw 73 percent of the time. The Trojans found themselves down 4-0 after the first quarter, as Littleton’s Dan Johnson rattled the cage twice in the frame.
Johnson’s second goal was a bouncer from12 yards out that kissed the top of the crossbar and plopped on the goal line as the quarter came to a close.
Things did not get much better for Bromfield in the second quarter. Johnson connected again for the Tigers on the man-advantage off a feed from Kyle Leonard 2:30 into the second quarter.
Littleton peppered Wilkey with three straight point-blank shots, but it was the fourth one from Leonard that finally squirted into the back of the cage.
Leonard’s goal came midway through the second quarter. Johnson set a nice pick, and Leonard came around for the backdoor goal with less than 2:00 left. Johnson would tack on another for the Tigers with 55 seconds remaining, leaving Bromfield trailing 8-0 at halftime.
Eighth-grader Nick Evans gave Trojans fans a little glimpse into the future when he rattled the cage in the sixth minute of the third quarter to momentarily halt the Tigers’ hot streak at 8-1. Corey Tower also netted a low-lying dart from the right-side with 12 seconds remaining in the game, but it was too little late as the Tigers roared to a 13-2 win.
Johnson netted a game-high five goals for the Tigers, while Leonard chimed in with four.
Wilkey said the Trojans have shown signs of improvement throughout the course of the season.
“We have come together a lot better as a team than in previous years,” said Wilkey. “In the past few years, we have lost to this team by far more than what it was. I am definitely seeing improvement. We need to get our offense going, and use the opportunities we are given.”
