With the holidays now in the rear view mirror it was time to get back to tournament hockey and we started with the annual tradition of the Christie Serino Classic taking place at Malden Valley Forum featuring four teams: the St. Mary’s Lynn Spartans took on the Weymouth Wildcats in the opener with the nightcap featuring the home team Malden Catholic Lancers taking on the Franklin Panthers. We were able to catch both games with the help of our friends at LiveBarn and with that, on we went!
Semifinal #1: St. Mary’s Lynn vs Weymouth
Malden, MA – The first period between the Spartans and Wildcats started off a bit slow as both teams worked their way up to a quicker pace. Each team was looking to learn from the preceding shift and adjust each time they came back over the boards. There were also a number of wide passes, turnovers and icings, but things began to heat up midway through the frame. Weymouth had owned most of the possession throughout the frame but St. Mary’s Lynn was undaunted. Seven minutes into the game a long rush by sophomore defenseman Alex Chiasson produced a rebound which fellow sophomore Nick Thornton was more than happy to clean up: 1-0 Spartans. Following the goal, the Wildcats turned up the forecheck pressure but were unable to get many pucks through. That led to a counterattack by the Spartans with 40 seconds to go. A point shot by sophomore defender Jaiden Driscoll bounced to the waiting stick of yet another sophomore Joey Calder: 2-0 Spartans, which would be our score entering the locker room.
In the middle period, the game was a bit choppy and filled with more penalties which subdued the flow. Despite this, the Spartans took command of the period early while on a power play. It only took a matter of seconds for them to convert as freshman forward Aidan Fitzpatrick found senior Brady Bullock on the half wall and he wired one past the goalie to make it a 3-0 lead for St. Mary’s Lynn. The remainder of the period featured numerous ebbs and flows with both teams making pushes but the biggest opportunity came in the form of a 5-on-3 for Weymouth (including a 5-minute major), both of which they were unable to capitalize on. That set us up for the final 15 minutes of action with the score 3-0 Spartans…
In the final frame, the ice was tilted in favor of St. Mary’s Lynn and the score reflected it accordingly. Just two minutes in, a nice centering feed from behind the net by freshman forward Finn Racki set up freshman Jack D’Aielio to make it 4-0 St. Mary’s Lynn. The Wildcats attempted to dial up more physicality and put more pucks on net at the other end, but the Spartans shot blocking and quick transition moving the other way was just too much to overcome. Roughly 10 minutes later the dagger came from Calder who finished off his second of the night on the backhand off a primary helper by Bullock. That seemed to take the wind out of the Wildcats sails as a barrage of goals followed. 30 seconds later, Calder would complete the hat trick by following up on a rebound on the backhand again to make it 6-0 Spartans. 44 seconds later, another score came in as sophomore Maddox Jacobsen put home a rebound at the net after senior Brady Ayles had driven the puck deep into the zone and put the initial shot on goal. That gave us our first final: St. Mary’s Lynn 7, Weymouth 0.
St. Mary’s Lynn advances to the title game to face the winner of Malden Catholic vs Franklin while Weymouth will get the defeated team in the consolation game tomorrow.
Three Stars:
- F Joey Calder, St. Mary’s Lynn
- G Anthony Palmer, St. Mary’s Lynn
- F Brady Bullock, St. Mary’s Lynn
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Semifinal #2: Malden Catholic vs Franklin
Malden, MA – The first period of this second semifinal kicked up the intensity level in the building right from the start as both squads were pushing the pace and creating chances. Franklin came out strong from the outset, using their length and puck skills to create chances, but Malden Catholic created their own pressure with a consistent forecheck. Franklin had the better of the chances early and cashed in about halfway into the frame. A faceoff win from outside the attacking zone by senior forward Thomas Balducci sent sophomore brother Carter Balducci in on the right wing with room to spare and he snapped a quick shot past the MC goalie to make it 1-0 Panthers. Malden Catholic pushed back and netminder Colby Wagner stood tall on the breakaway and on a penalty shot early as well. That all set up the second goal four minutes later when junior forward Dan Daley set up a play at the front of the net that junior forward Ben Paterson put on net, a waiting rebound found the stick of Anthony Lampasona which doubled the lead to 2-0 Panthers. That’s how the first would end, but you had the feeling things would tighten up as we got deeper into this one.
In the middle frame, this game tightened up early as just under three minutes in senior forward Daniel Zizza created a 2-on-1 break in and delivered a slick pass to his left to feed fellow senior Conner Sealy, making this a 1-goal game at 2-1. Unfortunately for the Lancers, that was as close as they would get in this one as Franklin came back stronger following that goal and turned the tide with a matching tally four minutes later. It was a nice give and go play from the goal line to the dot with a pass by Paterson to Daley to make it 3-1 Panthers. Just over a minute later they would pad that lead as a slick pass in the neutral zone led to a 2-on-1 break and Daley dished the puck over to his left to sophomore Jack Wernig to make it 4-1 Franklin. Five minutes later, another tally followed as Malden Catholic took a penalty and Franklin capitalized quickly when big sophomore Vinnie Pasquarosa kept a play alive at the top of the circle with a backhand pass down low to Anthony Lampasona who buried it after two whacks at the puck: 5-1 was the score and that’s how we went into the locker room. The Lancers would need a big response in the third period to close the gap.
In the final frame, Malden Catholic got the fast start they were looking for when Zizza let loose a one-timer as he entered the attacking zone, teed up for him by sophomore star defender Nick Evans: 5-2 was now the score. The Lancers were flying high early in the frame, but as the period wore on the momentum tilted back Franklin’s way, culminating in another goal seven minutes in when Daley fed junior defenseman Logan Marchand at the point and his shot found a way through multiple bodies to give the Panthers a 6-2 lead. Less than two minutes later, the icing on the cake was a shorthanded goal coming off a nice steal by senior forward Ben Jarosz, who teed up fellow senior forward Ryan Sicchio for a one-timer to make it 7-2 Franklin. That would be our final score at the end of the night.
This meant the Final for the Christie Serino Classic would be Franklin vs St. Mary’s Lynn at 7pm back at Malden Valley Forum and the Consolation Game would pit Weymouth against host school Malden Catholic at 5pm.
Three Stars:
- F Dan Daley, Franklin (G, 3A)
- F Anthony Lampasona, Franklin (2 G)
- F Carter Balducci, Franklin (G, A)