The Delaware Military Academy Seahawks (7-0-0) established and maintained territorial control, crashed the net early and often, and overpowered the opposition in front of the crease en route to an 11-1 declawing of the Boyertown Bears (5-4-0) on Monday evening (Jan. 15) at The Pond Ice Arena in Newark, Del.
The Seahawks potted two goals from directly in front of the crease in the first 2:08, with both Cook brothers—sophomore Lukas and senior Markus—accounting for the early tallies before Sean Quinn registered the lone Boyertown goal at 5:49, tapping in a rebound off DMA goalie Anthony Guerrieri’s pad following an initial Bryce Soto shot from the left point.
Any mid-period spark the Bears tried to muster was promptly thwarted in the neutral zone, as the Boyertown side failed to work past strong DMA pressure between the blue lines. Many neutral-zone turnovers led to nine unanswered goals from the Seahawks, including five from junior winger Justin McGee, who showcased his stickhandling before beating Bears goalie Troy Viola on the glove side on numerous occasions.
McGee’s two third-period goals were particularly notable: at the :37 mark, he received an outlet pass just above the Boyertown blue line, manufactured a breakaway, drew Viola left with a deke, and punched his fourth goal of the game in under Viola’s glove—all within ten seconds of returning to action from an unsportsmanlike conduct minor assessed in conjunction with his previous score. Not two minutes later, his stickhandling through traffic enabled him to punch the game-ending goal under Viola’s glove, as the Seahawks’ 11-1 advantage put the mercy rule in effect 2:33 into the final period.
In addition to McGee’s five-bagger, Markus Cook accounted for a hat trick and four assists, Lukas Cook scored two, and sophomore centre Aaron Catron scored one. The Seahawks outshot the Bears, 48-12.
DMA returns to action at The Pond on Friday evening (Jan. 19), facing the Salesianum School Sallies (2-6-0) for their first meeting this season. Live coverage on Delaware Hockey Night Radio is scheduled to commence at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.
