Watertown, MA – The #25th seeded North Attleboro Red Rocketeers traveled to the John A Ryan Arena to take on the #8 seeded Newton South Lions in the opening round of the MIAA State Tournament 2021-2022 playoffs.
Newton South carried the play to start the period. They established their forecheck getting pucks behind the defense and pressuring them hard. That hard work paid off for them in the form of some prime scoring chances, but North Attleboro goalie Kyle Gruber was up to the task denying them all. Later, the Rocketeers started to settle in and find their game. They are a physical team, and about halfway through the period, they started to impose their will. Anytime a Newton South player touched a puck they were met by a North Attleboro player, causing some turnovers. They carried the play for long stretches at the end of the period and had some good scoring chances but Lions goalie Dylan Zukowski stood tall. Both goalies were the story in this first 15 as the period ended 0-0.
The first few minutes of the second was wide open, unlike the first. Both teams had 2-on-1 opportunities, but both goalies shut them down. With six total penalties called, five of them on Newton South, the second period was all about special teams. North Attleboro would take the first penalty at the 3:52 mark, but their kill would pay dividends.
Senior forward Nick Longa was laser-focused and grinding on the kill and picked up a loose puck at his blue line. He carried through the neutral zone taking the D wide and sniped short side to give the Rocketeers the 1-0 lead. Newton South spent the rest of the period in the box, with a total of ten minutes in penalties. They did a terrific job on their PK and got out of the period only down 1-0.
Newton South killed off the remaining 30 seconds of their penalty to start the third period, and shortly after would go on the power play. They would finally solve Gruber and get on the board at the 3:45 mark. Playing the right side of the umbrella, senior speedster Ryan Quirk would take a feed from Elliot Wood and snap a shot far side past Gruber to get South on the board and tie the game 1-1. Both teams played hard and physically trying to get the chance at the go-ahead goal. The teams traded chances in the middle of the period but both goalies once again denied the opportunities. The Rocketeers goalie Kyle Gruber was outstanding in the final few minutes. Most notably, he turned away a point-blank shot on a 2-on-1. Then the next play, he made a right pad save and the rebound ended up on a wide-open Newton South player’s stick and he slid across the crease to deny the shot and keep it a tie game. Then, with 1:18 to go North Attleboro junior forward Mark Ayvazyan collected a stretch pass and found himself one-on-one with Zukowski. He made a great move right to left and buried the puck past the sprawling goalie, giving North Attleboro a 2-1 lead. They would close the game out with an empty net goal by Nikolas Kojoian, and move on to the Sweet 16 with a 3-1 win. The first big upset win of the MIAA State Tournament as the 25 seed advances to take on the winner of Silver Lake vs Beverly.
Three Stars:
- G Kyle Gruber. North Attleboro
- F Mark Ayvazyan, North Attleboro
- F Nick Longa, North Attleboro