In the first game of Walpole High’s 2016 winter sports season, the Rebels handed an overwhelming 4-0 defeat to out-of-league opponent, Oliver Ames (OA). With goals from seniors Andrew Moore and Cam Martin as well as two from sophomore Ryan Boyajian, the Rebels began their season with an explosive offense.

“We have the potential to be really good this year,” said Martin. “I think this game was a clear sign of that.”

The Rebels were the first to capitalize with Boyajian’s goal eight minutes in. Walpole was in control for most of the opening minutes with several shots coming from both the faceoff circles and from the points. Boyajian’s shot came from right in front of the net—in between the two dash marks of the faceoff circles—and went glove side high on OA goalie, senior Zach Walsh. For the remainder of the period, Walpole held control in the OA defensive zone. OA did have a few chances, but Walpole was able to prevent any serious scoring opportunities.

“We had a pretty solid game defensively,” said first-line defenseman, senior Michael Timson. “When the puck did go in our zone, we were able to clear it out cleanly. This was our first game, and there is still a lot to work on, but we will only go up from here.”

In the second period, the Rebels again were dominant. Moore notched Walpole’s second of the game with thirteen minutes left in the period. Moore collected the puck off a rebound, and fired it back in—once more, glove side high.

Before the period was up, Boyajian netted another one with five minutes left on the clock. A redirect from the point, Boyajian was in the right place at the right time, for when the puck hit his stick, the OA goalie was out of position, and Boyajian had an open net to shoot on.

Now with the score 3-0 Walpole heading into the third period, Walpole had all the momentum. The third period as a whole was largely back and forth in terms of possession, and OA had more scoring opportunities than they had all game. Despite their last minute efforts, OA could not manage to score on Walpole goalie, senior captain James Corcoran. Before the game ended, Martin notched Walpole’s fourth and final of the game with 1:44 left.

“We were great defensively all game” added Martin. “Our offense created plenty of opportunities for ourselves to score too. Everyone worked extremely hard all game, and [Corcoran] played great too.”