On Friday night, Williston boarded the mini-busses and headed north up Route 91 to Historic Deerfield to take on the Big Green. The game was an important one and not just because the two schools are 23.5 miles apart but also because the Pioneer Valley Cup was on the line. Deerfield took a 1-0 lead just forty-four seconds into the game and had some good momentum early on. However, Williston battled back and at the 16:45 mark of the period, senior Ronan Robinson made a short pass in the neutral zone to senior Connor Hagness who split the d at the blue line, drove wide and slid a beauty pass to senior assistant captain, Dan McKiernan on the back post for a quick re-direct. The two teams went into the intermission at 1-1. In the second, the Franklin Freak, senior Gavin Havens cruised down the right wing, broke into the Deerfield zone and missed a shot high over the net. The puck careened around the corner and up to the waiting McKiernan who let a waster go that was artistically tipped by captain Ryan Deschamps at the 2:48 mark. Deerfield tied the game and then went up 3-2 before junior Cooper Conlin made a sweet pinch at the blueline to keep the play alive in the Deerfield zone. The puck dribbled to McKiernan again and instead of letting a laser go, made a nice little pass to Havens in the slot who was able to elude a Deerfield stick-check and bury his shot. They say ties are like kissin' yer sister and for the second intermission, we were knotted again. Deerfield took the lead at the 6:10 mark of the third but relinquished it at the 8:55 mark when Havens worked the puck through the neutral zone to Deschamps at the blue line who cut to the right half-wall and made a backdoor pass to a crashing Hagness on the back post. Number eleven knew what to do and tied the game. McKiernan broke the tie when he received a pass from Deschamps in the neutral zone, cruised around the net and snuck the puck past the Deerfield goalie on a wrap around at the 14:07 mark. Junior Jayson Alegria sealed the deal for the visitors when he bagged his second goal of the week on an empty net. Ryan Hennigan was clutch throughout the game making 40 saves. Unfortunately, the cup was not in the building to be handed to Williston upon their victory; Deerfield is unsure of its location but the Wildcats have been promised that they are on the case. Trophy or no trophy, it was a great night for Williston hockey.

On Wednesday, the Canterbury Saints came marching into town for a 4:30 battle. Unfortunately for them, God was on the side of the Wildcats as Williston took the crusade, 5-4. Williston got on the board at the :30 second mark of the first when senior Dan McKiernan hunted a puck down like a man possessed in the Canterbury zone, circled the net, threw a backhand across the crease that was pounced on by the Franklin Freak Gavin Havens who put home his twelfth goal of the year. Captain Ryan Deschamps got the hardworking assist. Canterbury evened the game at the 1:06 mark. Williston went back on top when Connor Hagness picked off an errant pass on the Canterbury breakout. Hagness put a wrister on the Canterbury goalie who failed to handle the rebound. Junior Jayson Alegria, crashing the net hard, tapped in the rebound over the goaltender. Then, at the 15:01 mark and on the power play, McKiernan broke the puck up the ice with a pass to Havens who skated gingerly up the right side. Number 9 crossed over the blue and made a pass to Junior Riley Van Son who split the d and buried a nifty shot for the first goal of his Williston career. Williston was feeling good and hoping to go into the intermission with a two-goal lead but a fortuitous bounce off a deflection for the Saints with one second left brought the score to within one. In the second, the Saints figured some stuff out and scored two goals to go up 4-3. However, Williston evened it up at the 15:48 mark when Van Son chased down a puck into the Canterbury corner, tossed a puck on net that was saved by the Saints goalie, however, a rebound that bounced into the low slot was scooped in by a fall-away back hand by junior Brayden Deschamps. It was the sauce that the 'Cats needed and things started to look up for the home team. Less than a minute into the third, McKiernan was back at his old ways when he gathered a puck behind the net, drove up the left side, spun, and zipped a pass through the low slot that was nailed home by the saint of circumstance, Ryan Deschamps. This was all the scoring that would occur on the day and Williston emerged victorious. Junior goalie Jake Henry got the win behind a 34 save effort and Captain Deschamps earned the game puck. Williston heads up 91 on Friday night to take on the Deerfield Big Green. Don't sleep on this one because there is skin in the game for both clubs: the Pioneer Valley Cup is on the line. Started in 2020, the Pioneer Valley Cup is a season-long quest between Deerfield, Northfield Mount Herman, and Williston. Deerfield won the inaugural game in '20 and so this season, whenever they play NMH or Williston, the cup is on the line. Deerfield beat NMH earlier this year to retain the cup. Tonight, Williston hopes to bring it back to Lossone!

Williston traveled to Berkshire for a rare Monday night make-up game on Valentine's Day. Williston kept the game close for a bit but ultimately succumbed to the Bears, 6-2. Berkshire went up 1-0 in the first and 2-0 early in the second, but senior Connor Hagness scored on a breakaway at the 6:28 mark when a botched play at the blueline led to him going in alone. He went backhand, top shelf to make it 2-1. Assists went to PG James O'Toole and junior Riley Van Son. O'Toole tied the game on a power play when Van Son gathered a puck from the corner and, just before skating behind the net, dished to O'Toole on the near post who put a mini-one-timer past the Berkshire goalie. However, that was all the scoring that Williston would muster. Berkshire muscled four more goals and took the game.

Millbrook came to town on Saturday for the rubber match between the Wildcats and the Mustangs as both clubs had won a game apiece in their own buildings. Millbrook got on the board first at the 7:11 mark of the first period but five minutes later, sophomore, Wes Haynes collected a pass from his d-partner, junior, Cooper Conlin, and zipped the puck to Captain, Ryan Deschamps who was streaking through the neutral zone. Descamps crossed the Millbrook blueline, made a drop pass to senior Gavin Havens who let a howitzer of a shot go that beat the Mustang goalie. Both teams entered their dressing rooms knotted at one. In the second, senior Dan McKiernan picked off an errant pass at the blueline, drove to the left post and drew a Millbrook d-man to him before sliding a beauty pass to Havens on the doorstep. Havens, knew what to do. 2-1, good guys. In the third, however, Millbrook tied up the game and won it with just over three minutes left in the game. The Wildcats had a number of opportunities but couldn't bury. Williston travels to Berkshire on Monday, Valentine's Day, but the Wildcats hope to show no love to the Bears at the 5:30 tilt.

Up 5-0 early in the second period, the Wildcats held on to defeat NMH 6-4. Great team effort all around led by Gavin Havens and Dan McKiernan up front with Jake Henry strong in the net!

Williston traveled to Millbrook on Wednesday and, despite a playing valiantly for two periods, lost decisively, 8-3. Millbrook scored the first two goals of the game at the 13:19 and 13:55 mark, respectively. Senior Connor Hagness got the Wildcats to within one when post-grad Ronan Robinson made a long pass to Hagness who was hanging around on the left side of the ice near the red line springing the forward on a breakaway. Hagness took the puck to his backhand and beat the Millbrook goalie. In the second, Millbrook, once again, took a two-goal lead. However, at the 9:49 mark, Brady Clark netted his first of the year when he let a laser go from the point. Hagness and junior Jayson Alegria got the helpers. In the third, Millbrook sored five goals, three of the unanswered toward. Senior Dan McKiernan (Havens and Gaudreau on the assists) got Williston to within two but it wasn't enough. Goalie Ryan Hennigan made 37 saves on the day.

On Saturday, January 22nd, Williston was supposed to play Academie St. Louis out of Quebec but due to the potential difficulty of getting across the border and back, they were forced to cancel. However, the Millbrook Mustangs decided to book the date, so at 5 o'clock and with an army of Williston fans, the two teams battled. The first two periods were reminiscent of the invasion of Norway into Scotland in Macbeth; a Scottish Sergeant recalls to the King: "Doubtful it stood; / As two spent swimmers, that do cling together / And choke their art;" both clubs went back and forth with neither team conceding goal. Finally, at the 1:09 mark of the third period, Cooper Conlin of Lexington, MA let a shot go from the left point that was saved by the Millbrook goalie but corralled for a one-timer by Cranston native, Perry Gaudreau; the Mustang goalie made another flashy save but the rebound came out in the slot to assistant captain and the pride of Weston, CT, Dan McKiernan, who potted his fifth of the year. Millbrook scored at the 14:59 mark of the period on a sneaky shot sending the teams to overtime. In OT and four-on-four, Millbrook tried to break out of their own zone and lost the puck to Conlin at the point who knocked it to McKiernan on the left circle-top. McKiernan cut around a winger, made a nifty move around the d at just below the center hash marks and buried a shot over the goalie's blocker sealing the deal for the Wildcats. The celebration was wild as the hometown boys took the victory in front of the Williston faithful. Ryan Hennigan played spectacularly making 38 saves. McKiernan was awarded the game puck.

On Wednesday, it was a battle of the big cats as the Vermont Wildcats took a journey down 91 to take on the Williston Wildcats. Sophomore Jake Henry of Boxborough, MA got the nod in net. Jayson Alegria of New Rochelle, NY got it going just fourteen seconds into the game when Ryan Deschamps, from Burrillville, RI won a puck behind the net, made a no-look back pass to Connor Hagness of Guilford, CT and put a backhand on the Vermont goalie, who made the save but who let a rebound out to Alegria on the doorstep. Senior Gavin Havens scored his first when Dan McKiernan picked off a pass on the right point, drove the net and passed a back-diagonal pass to Havens in the slot. The Franklin Freak knew just what to do and buried if for a 2-0 lead. Brayden Deschamps got into the action at the eight-minute mark when he dug a puck out of a scrum by the goal, wheeled behind and jammed it past the Vermont goalie. Vermont got on the board to make it 3-1 but PG winger, James O'Toole, got sprung for a breakaway down the left side of the ice and the Rockland Rocket did not disappoint, netting his third of the year. Ryan Martin got his first of the year when junior, Riley Van Son, made an indirect pass from the right corner that the PG d-man blew past the Wildcat goalie. McKiernan got the second helper. The Wildcats took at 5-1 lead into the intermission. Williston got back into it when Hagness skated into the right side of the Vermont zone, pulled up on the half-wall and dished to an open Emmanuel Damianakis of Dollard-des-Ormeaux; Hagness bolted to the net and received a pass back from Damianakis in the slot; the bid was deflected but the puck bounced onto Alegria's stick for his second. Things were looking good--the wheel was turning and it couldn't slow down. But then it did. Vermont scored three straight power play goals to pull the game to 6-3. In the third, Williston got back on track on a 5x3 power play when Alegria, on the left half-wall made a pass to Havens on the point who then zipped a pass to McKiernan on the right point; the two played pass until Havens had enough and let a blast go from the point that ripped twine. Havens celebrated with a swizzle of the stick before putting it back in its scabbard on his hip. Joe Easton got his first goal of his career when Hagness flew into the zone, made a toe-drag of all toe-drags around the left d-man before sliding a silky pass to the Southwick, MA native who drove the puck past the Vermont goalie. McKiernan earned his fourth point of the game, and his first of the game, when Martin made a rink-wide pass to Havens who fired a low shot off the Vermont goalie that let a big rebound onto the Weston, CT native's stick. The assistant captain knew what to do and scored the ninth and final goal. Henry made 21 saves on the day and local boy, Joe Easton, earned the game puck.

On Saturday, the Berkshire Bears made the trip east to Lossone Arena and lost 5-0 to the Wildcats as Williston controlled the play all afternoon. Williston took a 1-0 lead on the powerplay at the 7:19 mark of the game when senior captain Dan McKiernan won a puck on the left board-side hashmark, drove to the bottom of the circle and went thin mints over the shoulder of the Berkshire goalie on a nearly impossible angle. McKiernan was very happy. The assists were awarded to Havens and Ryan Deschamps. Junior Jayson Alegria put the 'Cats up 2-0 when Connor Hagness threaded a bb to him on the Berkshire blueline that caught the green and white d off guard. Alegria blasted into the zone on a breakaway and beat the Berkshire goalie on the far side. Senior Captain Will Gaca got the second assist. Connor Hagness made it 3-0 in the second when Cooper Conlin took a pass from d-partner, senior Ronan Robinson. Conlin took an off-net shot that took a fortuitous bounce off the back wall and onto Hagness's stick. Hagness buried it. James O'Toole made it 4-0 when he took a nice pass off a 2-1 from Hagness and scored on an empty net after Berkshire had pulled their goalie. But Hagness wasn't done. With just over two minutes left, Robinson made a clearing pass that ended up in the neutral zone where Hagness flew in from his left side wing position, picked up the puck and went in on a breakaway beating the Berkshire goalie over the blocker. Hennigan earned the shutout with 32 saves and the game puck.

On Friday night, Williston finished classes and headed up to Winchendon for a 6 pm tilt against the Wapiti. Williston got on the board at the 5:47 mark of the first period when, on a faceoff in the offensive zone, senior Gavin Havens won the draw and made a pass to a wide-open Perry Gaudreau on the crease; the junior from Cranston, Rhode Island found the back of the net with the quick hands of a magician. Senior captain Ryan Deschamps made it 2-0 in the second period when junior Cooper Conlin let a shot go from the point that deflected off of Deschamps. The assist was the first for Conlin of the season. Winchendon made it 2-1 early in the third but junior Manny Damianakis got his first goal as a Wildcat when he won a puck on the ride side of the ice, cut to the front of the net and let a laser go that beat the Winch goalie in the top corner. (As the busses were leaving the rink later that night, the monkey that had been on Manny's back all season was seen on the side of the road with a top hat and suitcase.) Senior Ryan Hennigan played lights out on the night and earned the win. The game puck went to Manny.

The next day, Williston took on a battered Albany team who was without a few of their players but took the hard-luck loss, 2-1. Jayson Alegria got the Wildcats on the board at the mid-way point of the first period securing a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. However, some hard work and a little puck-luck helped Albany net two in the second half that secured the win. Jake Henry made 16 saves.

Williston earned its first win of the season in the second game of the St. Sebastian's Tournament, beating The Rivers School 3-1 on December 18th. Dan McKiernan got things going when he raced down the right wall of the Rivers' zone, stepped to the middle of the ice and beat goalie Conor Sullivan over the glove hand. Jayson Alegria earned the assist. Rivers would pull to even six minutes into the second, but Jayson Alegria took a long pass from Brayden Deschamps that sent him on a breakaway beating Sullivan with a nifty backhand to forehand move. Ronan Robinson got the second assist. Perry Gaudreau got the third and final goal when he carried the puck around the Rivers' net, stepped out just above the goal line and beat Sullivan over the shoulder. McKiernan and Havens were awarded the assists. Jake Henry got his first win of the season making 38 saves.

In their opening quarterfinal game at the St. Sebastian's Tournament, varsity boys hockey battled hard but came up short to strong St. Andrew's squad 7-3. Goals were scored by James O'Toole, Dan McKiernan and Will Gaca. The team will look to rebound today when they take on Rivers.

The Williston boy's hockey team traveled up 91 to Northfield Mount Hermon this afternoon and lost a heartbreaker to the Hoggers, 4-3. The Wildcats went up 1-0 on a rush from junior Jayson Alegria who scored a nifty goal for his second of the season. NHM knotted it at one a piece with just a minute remaining the period. In the second, senior Gavin Havens took a feed from senior Daniel McKiernan on a 5x3 and let a one-timer go from the left dot that rang the far post and dropped in to make it 2-1. In the third, the Hoggers went up 3-2 on 5x4 and a 5x3, respectively. Senior Connor Hagness got the equalizer at the 12:19 mark, but just under a minute later, NMH sealed the win on an even-strength goal. The Wildcats had a 5x4 powerplay for five minutes but could not tie the game. Senior goaltender Ryan Hennigan made 39 saves on the night. Williston travels to the St. Sebastians Holiday Tournament on Friday evening at 8 when they take on Canadian power, St. Andrews School.

Williston traveled to Washington, Connecticut on Saturday for a late-afternoon game against the Frederick Gunn School. While Williston played some of its finest hockey of the year, it wasn't enough as the Wildcats dropped the contest, 5-2. Junior Jayson Alegria had his first goal of his Williston career with the assist going to sophomore Wes Haynes who fired a low, off-net shot to Alegria who was waiting on the back post. Senior Connor Hagness got his first of the year on a breakaway off a pass from post-grad defenseman, Ronan Robison. Ryan Hennigan made 37 saves in the losing effort.

Varsity boys hockey dropped a tough one to a very good Cushing team today 4-0. It was 1-0 heading into the third period when the Penguins scored two goals in 13 seconds to put the game out of reach. Jake Henry '24 was strong in net in his debut.

The Williston boy's hockey team lost its first game of the 2021-2022 season by a score of 4-0 to the Avon Old Farms Winged Beavers on Wednesday afternoon. The Wildcats faced an onslaught of offense from Avon in the first period but stingy defense and relentless play by senior goalie Ryan Hennigan (Falmouth Heights, MA) kept the game at 0-0. Avon got on the board midway through the second and added two more before the period was over. Williston had some great chances on the power play in the period but couldn't solve the Avon goaltender. In the third, Avon tacked on one more on the power play. Williston played a hard-nosed and fast-paced game but penalties ultimately cost Williston a chance to make a game of it. Hennigan faced 44 shots on the day. The Wildcats take on Salisbury in Connecticut on Saturday at 5pm.