Norwood Hockey Qualifies for Tournament

It was only two season ago when the Norwood hockey team went 0-19-1. Last year, the squad turned things around and found themselves with 18 points and missing qualifying for the tournament by a single game. With still a handful of games remaining on their regular schedule this year, the Mustangs have already secured a post-season berth.
Although Norwood will be venturing into tournament play, they need to improve upon their scoring if they want to be successful once they get there.
“All of our games so far this year have been down to the wire, a one point difference one way or the other,” Norwood Coach Chuck Allen said. “Currently, we have scored 27 goals, but have given up 23 to the opposition. Our biggest concern going forward is our need to score.”
Norwood has three plus lines that are solid on the ice to go with their six top notch defenseman; and everyone is playing a part. Although the entire team is moving in the right direction, they wouldn’t be where they are today if it wasn’t for junior goalie Austin Reardon making timely saves when the team most needed them. The junior net minder is sitting on a 1.89 goals against average and posting a 0.895 save percentage.
“In order to build a successful team, you need to start with a goaltender and then work your way out,” Allen said. “I believe we have our goaltender.”
Reardon is not only the team’s last line of defense on the ice he is also one of Norwood’s five captains. In addition to the junior keeper, Allen has put his faith in four other captains: senior forwards Sean Munroe, Kyle McCue and Will Goffredo as well as defender TJ Hennessey.
Leading the team in scoring is Joe Spadorcia, who has 10 points for this lack luster scoring attack.
“We’ve got to build the confidence of the player to keep the puck moving while advancing forward until we score,” the coach said.
Repetition is key to the Mustangs success. Allen believes you need to continue to work hard and hopefully have some bounces go your way.
“You need puck luck as much as anything else and so far we haven’t been getting any of it," Allen said. “These kids have continued to work hard to produce and I’m proud of their efforts; it’s all you can really ask for as a coach.”
Playing in the Bay State League during the season, Norwood finds themselves playing a lot of Division 1 schools, but come tournament time, the Mustangs drop down to Division 2.
“Playing in a predominately Division 1 league, it’s going to help us when the tournament rolls around and we’re playing Division 2 teams,” the Coach said. “Most likely, we’ll have a lower seed due to our winning percentage, but it doesn’t really bother us. Anything can happen in the tournament – you just need to get there.”
Although they have already clinched a spot in the tournament Allen is hoping that his team can find its scoring touch in addition to the senior leadership steering the ship in the right direction down the stretch.
Those senior athletes will not only be beneficial to this season’s success but to the success of the program moving forward. The school will be leaving the Bay State League come next fall for the Tri-Valley League, where they’ll find themselves amongst similar teams more their size.