Wolves Edge Titans in 3-2 Win

By Jay Harris 

The Watertown Wolves and Head Coach Phil Esposito faced the Danbury Titans at the Watertown Municipal Arena. The Wolves saw a lot of changes to their lineup over the last week. Jason Dolgy from the Cornwall Nationals was added to the roster in a trade for Stanislav Vlasov and the rights for Lou Dickenson. Marley Keca (also from the Cornwall Nationals), Joe Cangelosi, and Ryan Whitell also made their debuts in blue and white. Wolves fan favorites Jeremy Akeson (injury), Shane Halaas (injury), Brett Liscomb (injury), and Brad Townsend (loaned to Elmira) were all missing from the bench. 

The Wolves were the first to light up the goals. Ryan Connolly and Nate O'Brien set up the scoring opportunity for Mark Petaccio. The Titans tied the game at 1 on their third power play when Nikolai Okhlobystin got one passed Watertown goalie Danila Allistratov. Danbury would earn two penalties simultaneously with just thirty seconds left in the first period. Matt Graham was charged with slashing while teammate Sean Maktaak earned a high sticking penalty. 

Petaccio scored his second goal of the night with assists from Jesse Facchini and new Wolf Jason Dolgy. Dolgy assisted Facchini with his first goal of the night to make it a 3-1 game for the Wolves. Danbury would make the score 3-2 with just 12 seconds left in the period on a goal from Taylor Bourne. 

The scored would remain unchanged in the third period to give the Wolves a 3-2 victory. The Wolves received all 3 stars for the game. The first star went to Mark Petaccio with Jesse Facchini and Jason Dolgy receiving the second and third respectively. 

Head Coach Phil Esposito had the following statement after the game: "The guys that played tonight played hard and did what they're supposed to do. We got a lead and were protecting the lead in the third period. Our goal tonight was to get the points and that's what we did. We just gotta move forward from there and try and get better tomorrow." 

Watertown is in fourth place in the Federal Hockey League standings. The Wolves are back in action Saturday, January 28th against the Berlin River Drivers. The puck will drop in the Watertown Municipal Arena at 7:30 pm.