Methuen, MA – We made the trip out to Methuen this afternoon to see one of the better matchups of the day as it relates to D3. This was the third matchup of contentious rivals from the North Shore as the Methuen Rangers (12-4-2) hosted the Dracut-Tyngsboro Middies (14-5-0) on Teacher Night here at Methuen HS. There is some history to this regular-season series as Game 1 was a 4-2 Rangers win and the second matchup was a 4-1 Rangers win, so clearly the Middies were motivated to get one back. We could tell from the initial drop of the puck that this was going to be a tight battle.
In the first period, this game was more measured to start. Both teams were executing their breakouts but there were not all that many Grade A looks. As we got deeper into the frame the physicality began to really pick up and both teams delivered some body blows. A couple of these hits led to time spent in the sin bin but it would be Dracut-Tyngsboro to open the scoring. Roughly 11 minutes in senior forward Josh Savoie drifted to the weak side on a 4-on-4 and received a nice feed from Mikey Desmarais to make it 1-0 Middies. Two minutes later the Middies would double that lead as freshman Nathan Freelove made a great block in the D zone and the puck found its way to Cam Caron fresh out of the penalty box who made a slick move to his backhand: 2-0 DT. That would be our score after 1.
The second period was much like the first in that the outcome was largely determined by penalties. The physicality of the period didn’t waver much from the first with some thunderous hits at both ends and a few clutches and grabs here and there as well. It turns out DT committed one too many of the latter and Methuen captain Owen Kneeland was awarded a penalty shot which he buried with some nifty handles to cut the lead to 2-1. Three minutes later, the Middies would respond on the power play as Desmarais would roof one from the goal line near the right post to make it 3-1. From that point on DT began to turn up the heat and owned much of the possession for the remainder of the period. With just over a minute to go, they would pad their lead again as freshman Jack Feeney took a cross-ice pass on a 2-on-1 break from sophomore Jack Michaud to stretch the lead to 4-1, Feeney’s first varsity goal. That would be our score heading into the final frame.
In the third period, the tempo really ratcheted up and both teams went for the metaphorical kill. It was up-and-down firewagon hockey, really fun to watch for those in attendance. As the period wore on Methuen started to create more and more chances until the dam broke at the exact halfway mark of the period. There was a mad scramble in front of the net with multiple Rangers taking a whack at the loose puck. Eventually, sophomore Noah Kneeland banged it home to cut the DT lead to 4-2. Four minutes later, there was a bit of controversy as strongman junior Jack Allard got to the front of the net and threw one up high but the net looked as though it was slightly off-kilter after the right post was bumped. It was determined that the goal was good and that trimmed the lead to 4-3 with just under three minutes to play. Methuen continued to apply pressure up to the final minute and pulled the goalie looking for the equalizer but the Middies would finish this one off with an empty netter, his second of the game by Savoie. Final score: 5-2 Dracut-Tyngsboro.
Three Stars:
- F Josh Savoie, Dracut-Tyngsboro
- F Cam Caron, Dracut -Tyngsboro
- F Owen Kneeland, Methuen