Middleton, MA – In what has become an early season measuring stick tournament – we headed to Essex Sports Center to watch four of the more intriguing D1 programs this season. In the first game BC High took on St. John’s Prep and in the second game Pope Francis played Central Catholic.
Game 1: In the first period BC High and St. John’s Prep were both settling into the game and the early minutes featured a few missed passes, entangled sticks and overskated pucks. But things picked up later in the frame as SJP got on the board first with a nice centering feed by forward Will Van Sicklin to forward Jimmy Ayers to lead it 1-0. Just a few minutes later Aidan McDonnell took a centering feed right at the netfront and poked it home five hole to tie the game up with four minutes left in the period. And then with two minutes left BC High struck again as Ryan Flaherty fired a pass between the dots for James Marshall who finished to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead at the break.
In the second period, BC High maintained the momentum one minute in by notching their third goal: a nice one-timer in the slot by McDonnell: 3-1 BC High. Six minutes later they would add to that lead as Andrew teDuits won a race to the puck and fed Ricky Robinson for a one-timer: 4-1 BC High. Things remained that way until SJP stole the momentum late with a goal in the final minute as Ben McGilvray fed Pierce Blaeser from behind the net to cut the lead in half: 4-2 after two.
In the final period, SJP came out hot and scored the next goal to make it a one-goal game. Forward Tommy Sarni found a spot in the slot and fired one top shelf to make it 4-3. But six minutes later BC High would end any hopes of a comeback with a timely goal by forward David Williams who got cleaned out as he drove to the net to put home a loose puck. 5-3 was your final and BC High advances to the title game tomorrow.
Three Stars:
- F Aidan McDonnell, BC High
- F James Marshall, BC High
- F Pierce Blaeser, St. John’s Prep
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Game 2: This game took shape very early as most of the first period was played in Central Catholic’s end. Pope Francis opened the scoring just over a minute in as forward Wade Wegrzyn put one home from the slot on the power play. Just under three minutes later they added another with Patrick Fitzgerald flipping one top shelf. Six minutes later came the next one as forward Derek Rhodes fired it home short side: 3-0 Pope Francis. 14 seconds later came another with Josh Iby banging one home in the slot that the goalie wasn’t ready for: 4-0. It turns out Iby wasn’t done as he added one more just as the period was about to end to give the Cardinals a commanding 5-0 lead.
In the second period, there weren’t any changes on the scoreboard, but there was in the Central Catholic net as junior Timmy Briley took over and proceeded to calm the team down in front of him and limit Pope Francis’ chances. Central Catholic skated with more purpose and started to turn the tables a bit in terms of zone time early in the frame. Ultimately, both teams had looks at the net in the second 17 minutes, but nobody was able to bury one.
In the third period Pope Francis changed out their goalie as well as Nick Ritchie hopped in to spell senior Ryan Rhodes. For most of the period there were a lot of stick checks and battles for turnovers in the neutral zone. 11 minutes in Pope Francis put a cap on their scoring when sophomore Mossy Kearney lit the lamp off the rebound. Central Catholic did end the shutout with two late goals: one with four minutes remaining by forward Brady Rickenbach going bar down and another with three minutes remaining by defender Easton Morse. Final score: 6-2 Pope Francis.
Three Stars:
- F Josh Iby, Pope Francis
- F Mossy Kearney, Pope Francis
- F Jack Moltenbrey, Pope Francis