Cathal Wells is one of the goalies for our Spartans hockey team. He has just completed his third season with the team, one of them being on JV and the other two being on varsity. The 2021-2022 season was a very good one for Wells. He left the season with a record of 6-3-0 and a goals-against-average of 2.18. Wells was the goaltender for the CMADA  tournament game against Gardner High School.

When asked about how it felt to play in that game Cathal responded with “Going into the game I was nervous as most people would be, but losing to Gardner twice before, I was extremely nervous. After losing to Gardner twice combined with the final game aspect, I was under tremendous stress walking into the rink. I stuck with my pregame ritual of pasta pregame, stretching at the rink, and then lots of hand-eye warm-ups. In the locker room, I had my headphones blasting and followed my predetermined order of putting my pads on. During the walk from the locker room to the ice, the nerves rose considerably. Once I stepped on the ice and began my warmups, some of the emotions subdued but I was far from relaxed. Once we got the 2 goal lead in the 3rd, I felt a wave of relief as the game was going our way, I relaxed a little but not fully as the job was not done yet.” Cathal made some great saves throughout the game which sent the crowd of fans into a roar of cheers.

It is always fascinating talking to goalies about what goes through their heads during games. Talking with Cathal about what went on in his head during this nerve-racking game and the after feeling of winning such a big game, he said “Pre-game I was very nervous but all through the game I was more mellow. All that was going through my head was “Get set” and “That was close.” In the final seconds of the game, I was overwhelmed with emotions. I can’t even begin to describe the way I felt after the buzzer went off but it was an incredible feeling, something I’ll never forget. The feeling lasted days after and was definitely a bonus to the District Title.” This has been your inside look in the mind of a goalie during one of the most important games of the year.