Whalers win physical battle with Lions

(February 2, 2023)

The boys’ hockey team picked up their fourth consecutive win on Wednesday with a 6-2 win over St. John Paul II in a physical game that saw both teams each receive 10 penalties.

“My concern was that I want to try to keep everyone in the game, focus on scoring goals, let go of everything else that we’ve done so well. We were overwhelmed by emotion, but they still went out and still did their thing,” said coach Jack Moran of the victories over the Lions.

“They worked the puck really well tonight. There were some great passes in the neutral zone, they got out of the zone fantastically, they were very effective. They fell into the net like crazy. The biggest problem was that they kept hitting the goalkeeper with shots, they didn’t hit the open spots.”

Nantucket (6-4) scored two shorthanded goals, one each from Jack Billings and Jeremy Jenkinson.

The Whalers started the third period with a four-minute penalty, including over a minute They were on the wrong end of a 5v3 situation. They had just annihilated the first penalty and put the teams 5-on-4 when Jenkinson stole a pass on the offensive end, went into the net and slotted a shot between the Lions goalie’s legs.

“We really struggled to find some combinations as the guys got penalized and put in the box,” said Moran. “We had to come up with new sets of players to put together. We robbed the forwards to throw on the D, then we need a D to throw on the forwards. It was a mix match of everything but I think that’s a testament to the team because they’re able to play anywhere we need them to.”

Braden Knapp opened the scoring in the first half by using a Billings screen to put the Lions goalie just under the bar with a shot. St. John Paul tied the game with about four minutes remaining during the period when the puck was loose in the crease for an extended period and the Lions pushed it over the goal line, but Nantucket responded with two quick goals.

Colby O’Keefe put the Whalers back ahead with a hard angle shot from the goal line which the junior tucked in the top right inside corner Corner. Then, on the power play, Jenkinson found his brother, freshman Canton Jenkinson, wide open in front of the net to go 3-1 into the first break.

The Lions scored again late in the third period less than 15 seconds after a power play with a deflection, and then Canton Jenkinson completed the goal in the final minute of the game and earned the player of the game jacket with his performance of two goals and two assists.

Nantucket topped the stats list in last Wednesday’s 11-3 win over Monomoy/Mashpee when seven Whalers scored at least three points in the overwhelming win.

O’Keefe led the team by five points as the junior scored the first hat-trick of the season for Nantucket when he defeated the Monarch goalie just before time ran out in the second half for his third goal of the game. He was soon joined by Canton Jenkinson, who scored twice in the third half to complete his own hat-trick.

But the biggest reaction from the Whalers bench came on their 11th and final goal with just six minutes to go when Canton Jenkinson stormed up the ice and passed the puck to newcomer Baer O’Banion, who ripped a wrist shot into the top left corner of the net for his first collegiate career goal, earning him the game jacket player.