TAUNTON – With Father’s Day on the league’s customary Sunday game day, New England Future Stars action flipped to Saturday for Week 6. The 14U and Varsity the Southeastern Grizzlies and the Boston Brahmas, however, seemed to stay in rhythm with a couple competitive games.

Despite being the host team, the Grizzlies were swept in the mini two-game series. These Brahmas teams continued to march through the season a top of the league standings.

The first matchup of the day kicked off at 3:00 p.m. at Aleixo Arena with the 14U division leading the charge. It was a goaltenders battle between Gary Mandia and Caleb Packard, posting one of the lowest scoring games of the season.

Although it was a matchup of goalies, it did not take long for the Brahmas to put one on the board. With 12:33 remaining in the first period, a Michael Warfield shot from the blue line was deflected out front by Sean Powers for the goal. Nine minutes later the Brahmas tacked on another goal in the period, this time a rebound goal from Brayden Naumann. Naumann displayed great front net presence as he patiently waited to put home the rebound goal.

As period no. 2 came around, the Grizzlies finally got on the board. Adam Perry turned nothing into something on a one man rush, cutting the Brahmas lead to just one with 9:48 left in the second. Mandia made a handful of saves to keep his team within striking distance throughout the second frame. One of those saves included a right to left diving glove save with under a minute to play in the period.

The Brahmas were just too big and too fast for this Grizzlies team. Nick Spadorcia tallied another goal for the Brahmas to cap the game’s scoring. 

Final score of the game Brahmas 3 and Grizzlies 1.

Similar to the 14U game just before, the goaltenders for the Varsity Grizzlies and Brahmas made key saves to give their teams a chance to win all game long.  

The first period consisted of all Brahmas, netting two goals and taking a 2-0 lead. First was Brandon Walsh with a wicked wrist shot high glove side, and then Andrew Stefura slashing through the slot to tack on one more. 

It did not take long for the Brahmas to pick up where they left off in the second. Colin Ridge slammed home a rebound goal to extend the Brahmas lead to three early in the second period. It was beginning to look like a blowout, however the Grizzlies answered with two timely goals from Josh Medeiros and Noah Yost. The pair making it a 3-2 game heading into the final period.

Similar to the way the second started, the Brahmas extended their lead again thanks to an Anthony Marchant goal. As time dwindled down the Grizzlies became increasingly desperate to get back into the game. With under a minute to play, they pulled the goalie for an extra attacker and it was absolutely the right call. Luke Cabral was able to score and bring the Grizzlies back to within one with 17-seconds to play.

That was where the final score remained; Brahmas 4, Grizzlies 3.