» Wellesley drops game five in overtime; now it’s do-or-die this weekend against Burford Bulldogs
 

Straying from their game plan cost the Wellesley Applejacks a third loss in the first round of playoffs Wednesday, with the Burford Bulldogs taking the match 4-3 in overtime.
This leaves Wellesley down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series, set to wrap up this weekend.
“This is the first time now we’re going to step on the ice really facing adversity,” coach Kevin Lobsinger said of Saturday’s upcoming game six.
He blamed Wednesday’s loss in Burford to a few costly mistakes in the second period, when Wellesley started following the opposing team’s lead rather than playing its own game.
“The heartbreaking thing is … as soon as we get away from playing our style of hockey, Burford capitalizes.”
Right out of the gate Wednesday, the Jacks lost their way by both taking and giving up chances.
“We tried to play their game and I think we got lucky to come out of it 0-0,” Lobsinger said.
Regaining its composure in the second, Wellesley netted three goals.
Brady Hauck, assisted by Kurt Atchison, followed by Chris Armstrong from Scott Litt, made it 2-0 before the Bulldogs got on the board. Before the period was over, Scott Hanley, from Aaron Ryan and Owen Engel, increased the Jacks’ lead to 3-1.
“The second period we definitely played our game and it showed on the scoreboard and reflected in the play because most of the play was in their end.”
Starting out in the third frame, the Jacks kept up the pace, but two mistakes near the halfway mark cost them.
Burford’s second goal came after Wellesley tried to get fancy in the neutral zone and ended up being forced back into its own end. Next up, a Jacks’ forward left his man open to help a teammate and the lack of coverage gave Burford a chance to tie things up.
Less than four minutes into overtime, the Bulldogs followed up their tying goal with a similar play, taking the game 4-3.
“Our guys’ heads were down pretty low after that OT goal went in last night. Our guys were upset, they were frustrated. We have a game plan: when we stick to our game plan, we’re winning, but the problem is, we seem to have that couple-minute span every game where we stray from our game plan and that’s what seems to hurt us.”
Going into a do-or-die game six Saturday, Lobsinger said he wasn’t sure how things would turn out, but he did have a message for the Wellesley fans if they want to see a win.
“The two games that we played in Wellesley, boy there wasn’t a lot of noise out of our rink and Burford’s drawing on their crowd. Every time they score a goal and their crowd just goes absolutely crazy … it’s pumping them up. It would be nice to see our crowd do the same thing.
“I know it’s cold in Wellesley, but if people want to sit on their hands to keep ‘em warm, maybe if they clapped them and banged them, that might keep them warm too and give our guys that little bit of a boost we need this weekend.