Natick finds winning
role as avengers
 |
By Justin A. Rice Globe Correspondent / March 5, 2009
At 2-7, the Natick High boys' hockey team had to try something. Anything.
 | Discuss |
| COMMENTS (0) |
Those seven losses included defeats to Bay State Conference foes Norwood (by a 5-4 score), Walpole (3-1), Framingham (3-0), and Wellesley (2-1).
So junior forward D.J. Watkins developed a pregame ritual with Doug Scott, telling the first-year head coach, "We gotta avenge the loss."
The Red and Blue took to wearing this slogan on their sleeves after constantly making good on their teammate's new favorite phrase. First, Norwood fell to Natick, 2-1, on Jan. 21, and Walpole tumbled seven days later, 4-1. Then Natick managed a 2-2 draw with Wellesley in their Feb. 4 rematch.
"Every time we ran into one of these teams, we laughed and said, 'We gotta avenge the loss, make it right,' " said Scott, an assistant coach for Natick for five years before replacing Bob Lavin at the program's helm this season.
"At that point we felt like we had nothing to lose."
Three days after the Wellesley tie, Natick secured a trip to the postseason with a 3-1 victory against Braintree, setting up Natick's ultimate payback opportunity, against rival Framingham in the Division 1 South sectional. And when junior forward Mike Reddish scored 14 seconds into overtime last Thursday, the 11th-seeded Red and Blue had earned a thrilling 2-1 win over the sixth-seeded Flyers, the program's first tournament victory in a decade.
"It was pretty good because I just switched schools; it's nice to be able to do that," said Reddish, who had played his freshman year at St. Sebastian's School in Needham before transferring to Natick, where he was second in points this season with 9 goals and 3 assists. "We kind of knew we had a horrible record and we had to switch it around or we had no chance of making the tournament."
Natick's tourney run, and its season, ended Saturday with a 7-2 loss against host Falmouth High, but the team's 10-9-2 record and trip to the postseason marked quite a turnaround.
Reddish credited the coaching staff for rallying the Red and Blue after their rough start. Before he ran his first practice, the 33-year-old Scott left quite an impression on the school's administrators. A teacher at Natick High for the last six years, Scott beat out 20 rivals for the coaching job, according to athletic director Tom Lamb.
"Every head coach had his first shot some time," Lamb said. "It was the right time for Doug. It was actually pretty easy." The school's principal, John Hughes, he said, "is a hockey guy, and the two of us did the final interviews, and Doug stood out as an outstanding candidate from day one."
The start of the season wasn't so smooth, however. Even though the team continued to work hard in practice and didn't point fingers, there were occasions when the team's only seniors, defenseman Jackson Hookway and goalie Jarrod Kustra, had to keep the peace."A few times it started to get out of control, and one of the captains or older guys would say 'Guys, relax, take a breather. Everyone makes mistakes, we just have to relax,' " recalled Kustra, who allowed 36 goals in 16.8 games for a 2.14 goals-against average.
| Discuss |
| COMMENTS (0) |
Natick finally posted a 4-1 win over Dedham, and tasted revenge a week later against Norwood, setting up the season's finishing kick.
Scott said in addition to shaking up assignments and hammering home fundamentals, such as puck movement, defensive zone coverage, and attacking the net, his team also had to learn how to be more creative on the ice.
Scott said he was confident the Red and Blue would grow into the new system, which he felt highlighted the team's quickness, unselfishness, physicality, work ethic, and discipline.
"There was a lot of potential there," he said of a team that featured six sophomores and 10 juniors. "Some guys were ready to perform their role, and some guys we tried to be patient with them and upbeat. Young teams need time to develop and work together."
Scott lauded the leadership of his captains, who helped pull it all together, junior Jeff Scannell in particular. "When you are a junior captain, it is a lot to be asked of you to not only mature as a player but as a leader, and Jeff was able to do that for us," said Scott.
Ultimately, junior forward Mike Heyde finished with one more point than Reddish by collecting seven goals and six assists, while Watkins, junior Matt Killeen, and sophomore John Bishop added 10 points apiece.
There was plenty of doubt to go around, however, before the turnaround.
"Believe me," Scott says, "with every win and loss I evaluate everything I do, whether we win or lose. So you can imagine after going 2-7 in my first year coaching, I'm sitting there going over everything I'm doing and trying to make sure I'm not missing something."
When things seemed to be at their worst, Scott's old coach at Lexington High, Bob Carpenter, asked if the kids were working hard and having fun.
"He said, 'You're on your way, your season's going to be successful,' " Scott recalled Carpenter saying after he answered yes on both counts.
"It was reassuring, but I still put pressure on myself. I understand what he was saying but, again, I wanted the kids to have success. I saw how hard they were working. When you see kids working every day in practice and trying to get things going and they are not going the right way, as a coach, that's frustrating."
It was just as frustrating for his players, but Scott said they never got down on one another.
"That's one thing I swear kept it all together. They were good teammates, good kids, and positive at practice. It was disappointing to lose but we always enjoyed our time in the rink."
No comments:
Post a Comment