MARLBOROUGH — Rivalry. Resiliency.
Those two words were at the heart of Saturday afternoon’s hockey showdown at New England Sports Center. In a back-and-forth game that drew crowds from each school, the Hudson Hawks defeated the Marlborough Panthers to the tune of 6-4.
“We’ve got to give Marlborough a ton of credit — the resiliency of Marlborough. We were up on them — they came back. They had a lot of fight. It’s a big emotional game for both schools,” Hudson Head Coach Mike Nanartowich told the Community Advocate.
Hudson grabbed an immediate lead, going up 1-0 after captain Owen Nanartowich’s goal. Unwilling to let their longtime rivals pull ahead, the Panthers answered back moments later, knotting the game at 1-1 after Anthony Tramontozzi’s score.
Hudson’s Jordan Sousa opened the scoring after intermission, giving the Hawks a 2-1 lead. But again, Marlborough wouldn’t back down. This time, the Panthers tallied two goals in as many minutes (scored by Brayden Resendes, Tom Massalski) to pull ahead 3-2.
“We got off to a rough start in that first 15 minutes. I don’t think we were at our best — we weren’t really moving our legs. We were just sitting back for a little bit. In the second and third period, I liked the way we played much better. For us, it’s a good lesson. We need to show up for three periods, not just two,” said Marlborough Head Coach Mike O’Brien.
Even though Marlborough earned another goal early in the third period, Sousa and linemate Timmy O’Malley helped the Hawks pull away. O’Malley scored twice at the end of the second period — including a goal with 0:01 on the clock — and Sousa scored twice to end the third period, giving him a hat trick on the night.
“They just did an amazing job. Their chemistry — they work on it at practice. They’re constantly working, constantly communicating. I’m really proud of the way they played and the resiliency the team showed,” said Mike Nanartowich.
“It’s a huge game. Nobody on our team has ever beaten Marlborough, so it was a big, big game. We prepared all week. Our coach was hyped. We were all hyped. The energy was great on the bench, and we pulled through,” added Sousa.
