The boys varsity hockey team hosted the Northfield Mt. Hermon "Hoggers" on Friday, January 31^st, in the Hockey Center on Gordon Rink at 6:45 PM. At the end of regulation play, the "Hoggers" skated away with a 4-3 road win against the home team. From the opening drop of the puck, the visitors skated with conviction and determination. The "Big Red" quickly matched the intensity of the Northfield Mt. Hermon skaters in the first period but were never able to establish a lead at any point in the game. The first nine minutes of play saw a lot of up-and-down-the-ice action, with neither team capitalizing on their offensive opportunities. With a little more than eight minutes to play in the first period, both teams were whistled for coincidental minor penalties, requiring four-on-four play for two minutes. NMH capitalized in the four-on-four play by scoring a three-on-two-line rush goal that originated in the high ice of their defensive zone to take a 1-0 lead. The pesky Millville skaters stayed focused, and five minutes later, they capitalized on their five-on-four power play opportunity when Fourth Former Colin O'Leary ?27 (Winthrop, MA) scored on a one-timer from the right face-off dot. O'Leary's goal originated off a cross-ice pass from Tommy Humphreys ?25 (Simsbury, CT) from the right side of the ice to Matt Vohra ?25 (Valley, NS), who then zipped the puck back across the "royal road" to the "Delphian" defenseman for his first goal of the season.
 
In the second period, NMH outscored the "Big Red" two to one, taking a 3-2 lead into the locker room after thirty-six minutes of play. The "Hoggers" scored their second goal of the game on another three-on-two-line rush opportunity and their third goal on a loose puck scramble in front of the St. Paul's School netminder, Blake Truchon ?26 (South Burlington, VT), who made several key stops at various points to frustrate the visiting team's offense. The "Big Red's" lone goal of the period came on the power play when Gavin Code ?26 (Littleton, CO) redirected a Matt Vohra pass from the bumper position to score St. Paul's School's second goal of the game to tie the game at two. Tommy Humphreys earned a secondary assist, his second of the game, on the Code goal as he made another nice "royal road" pass to Vohra.
 
Two minutes into the third period, NMH scored their fourth goal of the game when they caused a turnover in the "Big Red" defensive zone to make the score 4-2. The "boys of winter" refused to back down; they responded three minutes later when Vohra took a Harry Dermody  ?26 (Bedford, NH) pass in the high slot of the defensive zone that came out of the left corner, and he found a streaking Anderson Kilbourne  ?26 (Duxbury, MA) behind the "Hogger" defense in the neutral zone for a breakaway goal to make the score 4-3. For the remaining thirteen minutes, the St. Paul's School skaters played with ferocious determination to score the game-tying goal but were unable to score that elusive fourth goal of the game.
 
The "Big Red" are back in action on Saturday, February 1^st, at Belmont Hill School at 3:45 on Keller Rink.