Bombers Fall Short in Tourney Opener

Westfield picked the team to struggle against in their opening game of The Cape Ann Savings Bank Holiday Tournament played in Gloucester, MA on Wednesday night.  The D2 Marblehead Magicians took advantage of a slow and sloppy Bomber squad who simply couldn't get anything to connect throughout the game.  Added to the mix were 3 bad penalties taken by the Bombers putting them in a tougher spot.  Luckily, CJ Czarnecki was between the pipes and called on to make many big stops and kept the score competitive.  In the first period, Westfield did go on the power play midway through the period where Spencer Cloutier's wrister from the slot found the top corner giving the Bombers a 1-0 lead.  The goal was assisted by Danny Antonellis.  The 'Headers tallied a power play goal of their own with only 5.8 seconds remaining in the 1st. 

Westfield got into hot water opening the 2nd period when a scrum in front of the net resulted in a minor-misconduct penalty to Connor Fitzgerald, quickly followed by a tripping call against Ryan Moorhouse.  The Bombers showed a lot of heart killing off the 5 on 3 with Czarnecki making a couple of stops from point blank range.  The score remained tied until the 10:22 mark, when Marblehead intercepted an errant pass at the point, moved the puck to Sophomore Will Shull who streaked in for a shorthanded tally and his second goal of the game.  Westfield was given the chance to go on the power play 3 times of their own in the period with no results as the officials made their mark on this game. 

In the third period, the action had much more flow as the teams were allowed to play without whistles for the majority of the period.  Westfield did go on the power play with just over 8 minutes to play, but a terrible turnover at their own blue line sent Junior forward Zach Piersol in alone on Czarnecki and when he put the puck in the net, the 2 goal lead held for a 3-1 final.  Shots on goal for the game were 25-15 in favor of the Magicians.