Wareham brings ‘the fire’ against hockey rival

Jan 12, 2020

MARION — The Wareham High School hockey team fought their way to victory in a tough game against their rivals, the Old Rochester Regional Bulldogs, on Sunday, Jan. 12. 

The start of the game saw fast-paced action from two evenly matched teams. Although players took shots on both sides of the rink, the game was scoreless through the opening minutes. 

Junior Forward Wylde LaTulippe scored the first goal of the game with about ten minutes and thirty seconds left in the first period. 

The Vikings maintained pressure immediately after that, and Captain Quirino DoCanto was quick to follow up with another goal just over a minute later. 

Down 2-0, ORR’s Ben DeMoranville, and Aiden Trembley fired back with their own goals in the later half of the period. Wareham players took shots to try to break the tie in the final minute, but were unable to break through ORR’s defenses, in part because of Jake DeMoranville’s goaltending. 

Wareham continued to pressure the net in the opening minute of period two, but was stifled by the Bulldog’s defense. 

As neither team was able to score a tie-breaking goal, tensions rose throughout the course of the second period. At one point, an ORR player was ejected from the game, after slamming the door to the penalty box. 

The third period started out much like the second, but ORR was finally able to establish a lead with just under 8 minutes left in the game. 

It took Wareham less than ten seconds of play to respond with a goal of their own, tying the game at three goals each with just minutes to go. 

With the game on the line, DoCanto rose to the occasion with another goal with just 6:21 left on the clock. 

ORR nearly made a comeback, but was unable to capitalize on a power play in the closing minutes of the game. 

The win improved the Vikings’ record to 4-3-1. 

When asked about how they were able to rally for the win, DoCanto responded with “the fire,” and said that his team always comes up big with goals in the third period.

While this game marked an impressive performance for the Senior Forward, it was also his first game against ORR since last year, when one of their players used a racial slur against him during a game. 

While there was some tension going into this game, DoCanto said that nothing similar happened during Sunday’s matchup. 

Head Coach Rich Valatkevicz said that ORR was a tough opponent, and cited DeMoranville’s goaltending as one of the biggest challenges posed by the Bulldogs. Ultimately, he said his team’s strategy was to “put the pressure on them” to get the win. 

Wareham will face off against Bourne on Wednesday, Jan. 15.