The Woodlands ice hockey rally falls short against Memorial West, 7–4

Evan Bezan assists on all four goals as The Woodlands cuts a three-goal deficit to one before dropping its second straight.

HS Ice Hockey

The Woodlands pulled within a goal midway through the third period Sunday night, but Memorial West answered with two late scores to secure a 7–4 victory at Aerodrome Ice Skating Complex.

Evan Bezan assisted on all four Woodlands goals, helping turn a 5–2 deficit entering the third into a 5–4 game. The comeback stalled there, leaving The Woodlands with its second consecutive loss and a 5–2–1 record.

The result tightened an already crowded Interscholastic Hockey League varsity standings picture. Memorial West improved to 5–2–1, matching The Woodlands at 11 points. Memorial West sits third in the posted standings, one position ahead of The Woodlands. Both trail Strake Jesuit and Ridge Point, who have 13 points apiece.

The Woodlands spent much of Sunday chasing the game.

Oliver Dumont and Yegor Goroshko scored in the first period to give Memorial West a 2–0 lead. Sawyer Farbe answered on the power play early in the second, finishing with 13:57 remaining off an assist from Bezan.

Memorial West rebuilt its cushion through Jayden Luo and Sam Antonoff before Ben Herda brought The Woodlands back within two. Herda’s goal, assisted by Bezan and Hallie Kimmel, made it 4–2 with 6:21 left in the period.

Erik Sherman restored Memorial West’s three-goal advantage with 1:49 remaining, leaving The Woodlands facing a substantial third-period climb.

Kimmel gave the comeback an immediate start.

Just 41 seconds into the third, Kimmel scored with assists from Bezan and Thatcher Kennedy to cut the deficit to 5–3. Creighton Liepold followed with a power-play goal at 9:23 remaining, assisted by Bezan and Farbe.

Suddenly, a game Memorial West had led by three was down to a single goal.

But Sherman scored his second of the night with 5:37 remaining to make it 6–4. Dumont added an empty-net goal with 15 seconds left to finish the scoring.

The Woodlands received goals from four different players. Farbe and Kimmel each added an assist to their goals, while Bezan was involved in every scoring play.

Owen Lewis finished with 34 saves on 40 shots faced. Memorial West recorded 41 shots overall, including the empty-net goal, while The Woodlands put 34 shots on Lawrence Zhang, who made 30 saves.

For The Woodlands, the power play provided two goals and a route back into contention. The difference was the early deficit: despite scoring four times over the final two periods, The Woodlands never drew even.