Tewksbury, MA – The Hingham Harbormen headed north to the Breakaway Ice Center to face off against the Andover Golden Warriors as the 2023-2024 season got underway.
Hingham looked sharp from puck drop, controlling the play and dominating time of possession. They played in Andover’s zone for multiple shifts at a time, almost playing keep away from the Warriors. Hingham was relentless on the puck, creating turnovers within one minute of each other that resulted in breakaways, but Andover’s Vinnie D’Urso stood tall and shut them both down. With 9:47 left in the first Andover would get the first power play, but it would be Hingham that would take advantage of it. Hingham senior captain forward Paul Dzavik stripped the Andover point man and went in all alone beating D’Urso five-hole to give Hingham the 1-0 lead. A couple of minutes later, Andover forward Evan Ashton stole a puck in the neutral zone and went in 2-on-1 with senior captain Brendan Murnane. Ashton sent a backhand sauce pass right on the tape of Murnane whose initial shot was stopped by Harbormen goalie Mike Karo but the rebound would bounce back on his stick and he wouldn’t miss the second time. That goal would make the game 1-1. The teams would trade scoring chances over the next few minutes but both goalies made some good stops to keep it a 1-1 game. Andover would go on the power play with a minute left in the first and make it count. Murnane would net his second goal of the period off a rebound from senior Anthony Deluca’s point shot. The period would end in favor of Andover 2-1.
Andover took a penalty right at the end of the first, so Hingham started the second on the power play. Andover’s kill was solid and D’Urso made some timely saves to keep it a 2-1 game. Hingham once again controlled zone time for most of the period but Andover played stingy defense, limiting Hingham to mostly outside shots. But with 5:49 to go Hingham had a 2-on-1 and D’Urso would stone the shooter then made a sprawling left pad stop on the rebound keeping it a one-goal game. But with 4:50 to go in the second Adover would increase the lead to two on what seemed like their first shot of the period. Sophomore forward Marcel Joe did a great job as F1 on the forecheck, stripping the Hingham defenseman and finding senior Caleb Wooster wide open in the slot, beating Karo far side with a quick one-timer, extending their lead to 3-1. Hingham would respond one minute later with an Alec Dzavik bomb from the point, beating D’Urso through traffic top corner to cut the lead back to one, 3-2 at the end of 30 minutes of play.
Being up 3-2, and feeling good about their game, Andover would take control from puck drop. They got pucks deep and forechecked hard, creating turnovers: making it tough for Hingham to break out. Eventually, the period would level off and turn into a stalemate with little action at either end for most of the remaining time. Hingham would regain some zone time but Andover’s defensive zone coverage was solid, limiting Hingham to mostly outside shots. Hingham pulled their goalie with 1:40 left, looking to play 6-on-5, but that was quickly negated when Dzavik was sent to the box for playing with a broken stick. Andover would go on the power play to end the game and eventually time would run out and they would skate away with a hard-earned 3-2 win over the Harbormen.
Three Stars:
1st star: F Brendan Murnane, Andover
2nd star: G Vinnie D’Urso, Andover
3rd star: F Anthony Deluca, Andover