Framingham, MA – For the second night in a row the Rams of Marshfield HS made the long trip to the Loring Arena in Framingham. This time to face off against the Pioneers of St John’s Shrewsbury in the Final of the Pat Serio MHL Cup.
The opening period did not disappoint. Both teams came out skating hard, playing physically and both had good scoring chances throughout the period. SJS carried the play in the first portion of the period, generating some long offensive zone times. Marshfield worked extremely hard in their defensive zone, keeping most of the SJS chances outside the prime scoring area. Marshfield senior goalie Kevin Murphy was solid turning away all of those chances. In the second half of the period, the ice tilted in Marshfield’s favor. They generated some prime scoring chances and had some odd-man rush chances but junior SJS goalie Dante Sousa was up to the challenge, making some great in-tight saves to keep the game at 0-0 after the first period.
SJS started the second period on the power play. They had some good puck movement and a few chances but Murphy stood tall and the Rams killed off the power play. They would take the lead a few minutes later on a snipe at the bottom of the circle from senior Cam McGettrick, who beat Sousa clean on the far side. Both teams traded chances over the next few minutes and SJS would capitalize with 8:14 to go in the period. Pioneers sophomore forward Cam Menhall picked up the puck in the neutral zone, splitting Marshfield’s two defensemen at the blue line and was in all alone, snapping a shot off over Murphy’s shoulder to tie the game at 1-1. Both teams had prime scoring chances in the last minute of the period and both goalies stood tall. Marshfield got a one-timer off from the bottom of the circle that Sousa swallowed up. Then with 5 seconds left, SJS created a 2-on-1 and Murphy made a spectacular save going post to post to make the save at the buzzer.
Just like the last two periods, both teams came out flying, looking to bang home the go-ahead goal. Marshfield had some great looks, and with 8:00 to go in the period they almost had the go-ahead goal. Sousa made the initial save then a scramble ensued at the top of the crease. Sousa made a couple more stops in tight before the puck squirted out to Marshfield senior forward Tommy Carroll who found sophomore Brendan Kiziuk inside the faceoff circle. He had Sousa dead to rights but the netminder made a great glove save through traffic. Marshfield worked extremely hard on their backcheck as well, shutting down any chances SJS tried to develop. SJS went on the power play with just under 3 minutes to go. Marshfield’s penalty kill was great, taking time and space away from SJS all over the zone and keeping any shots they got outside the dots. The game looked like it might go into overtime, but with a minute to go both teams would trade scoring chances. Marshfield’s McGettrick took the defenseman wide and tried a wraparound which was denied by Sousa. SJS knocked the puck past a defender at the blue line into the neutral zone, creating a 2-on-1 chance with 20 seconds left. Junior forward Dominic Reidy carried the puck into the zone and put a wrist shot on net, then the shot bounced off Murphy’s chest and onto senior Luke May’s stick who pulled the puck around Murphy for the game-winner with 12 seconds to go in the game. After a Marshfield timeout, they would pull the goalie and go 6-on-5 . They had a shot on net with 1 second left but Sousa made the save to secure the win. SJS is the 2023 Pat Serio MHL Cup Champion with the 2-1 win over Marshfield.
Three Stars
- G Dante Sousa, St. John’s Shrewsbury
- F Luke May, St. John’s Shrewsbury
- G Kevin Murphy, Marshfield