Malden, MA – Neutral Zone was in attendance virtually to watch a Catholic Conference matchup between Malden Catholic and Xaverian at the Malden Valley Forum on Wednesday night. The Catholic Conference is playing a league-only schedule this year comprised of 10 games (home and home versus each team). The games are broken into two 22.5 minute halves. The game was a wide open contest that went back-and-forth. Both goalies, Brady Roux (Salem, NH) and Kevin McGrath (Milton, MA) played well to keep the game a tight affair. Both teams felt each other out for the first 10 minutes or so of the game, playing a physical defensive style. Xaverian would open the scoring first when Jack Silva (Bridgewater, MA) shot the puck on net from the half-wall. Max Lockwood (Bridgewater, MA) jumped on the rebound in the low slot and gave the visitors a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later, Malden would tie the game when David Bazile (Wilmington, MA) drove up the ice and dropped the puck back to Seamus Condon (Arlington, MA) who shot the puck on the net. The rebound bounced to Zach Montecalvo (Haverhill, MA) who finished back door. Before the end of the half, MC would take a lead, using a shorthanded goal to go up 2-1. Brendan Curtis (Malden, MA) stole the puck in the Xaverian zone, walked off the wall and snapped the puck past the goalie. The home team would head to the break up 2-1.
The second half started similar to the first half with each team keeping the other to the perimeter of the rink. Xaverian would tie the game at two when Braden O’Hara (Duxbury, MA) would finish a cross-ice feed from Silva. A few minutes later, Xaverian would take the lead when Joey Crowley (Canton, MA) would finish an odd-man rush. With less than 6 minutes to go, MC would get the equalizer as the freshman Condon would take a drop pass in the high slot, walk in casually and rip the puck past the goalie. Neither team would be able to breakthrough and the game would head to OT.
Both teams had several chances in overtime. Xaverian had a power play for the last minute of the session but was unable to convert on a few point blank chances due to the goaltending of Roux. The game would go to a shootout where Cam Chute (Woburn, MA) would be the only goal scorer. MC would skate away with a 4-3 win (despite the game going into the books as a tie for standings purposes).
MC gets back to work on Saturday versus St. John’s Prep, while Xaverian travels to BC High on Sunday.
Three Stars:
- F Seamus Condon, MC
- G Brady Roux, MC
- F Braden O’Hara, Xaverian
NZ Notes
The game was a back-and-forth contest that will go down in the books as a tie. Several players on both teams had strong nights.
For the home team, Brendan Curtis barely comes off the ice. He is used in all situations and scored a nice goal shorthanded. He is slick with the puck and has quick feet. He takes good angles and excels pressuring defenders into bad plays. Seamus Condon had a strong game up-front. He is a bigger body and is smooth with the puck on his stick. He doesn’t rush plays and will let the game develop in front of him. Scored a nice goal by calmly collecting a drop pass and waiting for ice to open-up before taking it and snapping the puck by the goalie. Owen Keefe (Saugus, MA) is just a freshman on the back end but is counted on to play big minutes. He got better as the game progressed and had a few nice rushes with the puck. He keeps the game simple and is very efficient on the power play. He waits for angles and lanes to open before snapping the puck to teammates. Brady Roux was strong overall in net. He made several point-blank saves in overtime and stopped all three shooters in the shootout.
For the visitors both Shane Spinale (Canton, MA) and Shane Heron (Medfield, MA) were solid on the back end. They each play a different style, but made solid plays and kept MC defenders to the perimeter of the rink. Both made several nice, controlled reads that got the puck out their end and away from pressure. Spinale retrieves pucks well and look to create offensive chances quickly. Braden O’Hara was strong all night. He is used on the top unit and hunts pucks well. He gets to the net and finishes when given the chance. He made some nice plays in transition that created positive offensive chances. Also up front, Jack Silva was around the puck most of the night and used his body well to create space. He doesn’t hesitate to get pucks to the net and will use his hands and creativity to break down defenders in transition.