Arlington, MA – MassNZ was in the house as Bishop Feehan traveled north to the Ed Burns Arena in Arlington to take on Arlington Catholic in a rematch of the season opener. Arlington Catholic won the season opener 4-3 and would come out on top of the rematch as well by a score of 3-1.
AC pushed the pace early on in the first period, spending quality time in Feehan’s defensive zone. AC had good puck possession and cycled aggressively to create some quality offensive chances. Feehan sophomore goalie Easton Theberge stood tall making multiple saves early to keep the Cougars off the board. AC used their points well and got multiple shots through to the net but Theberge did a good job of tracking pucks into his body and not giving up rebounds. The period ended in a 0-0 tie.
The second period opened up offensively and saw each team getting on the board, with AC striking three times. AC would go the power play with 13:00 to go and they would capitalize. Junior defenseman Prescott Mulligan got a pass on the side wall from sophomore Stephen Constantine. Mulligan made a nifty spin move off of Feehan’s defenseman and drove the net hard beating Theberge five-hole to give AC the 1-0 lead. Three minutes later sophomore Tyler Heldenbergh received a pass in the neutral zone and went in on a 2-on-1. He took the defenseman wide and slid the puck over to Constantine, who went bar down to extend AC’s lead to 2-0. Both teams traded chances but AC would get their third with five minutes left in the period. Freshman defenseman Dante Kader fired a shot from the point and Theberge made the initial save and was trying to find the rebound when junior Jax Mulligan found the puck to the right of Theberge and banged it home. Feehan kept grinding and got rewarded minutes later with their first goal of the game. Senior captain Bruce Mackintosh got a quick shot from the point through traffic that AC goalie Patrick Clair initially saved, but senior captain Ryan Eldridge collected the rebound to the left of the sprawling Clair and finished into the empty net. Feehan went on the power play at the end of the period but Clair was solid denying any scoring opportunity.
Both teams came out for the third period playing fast and physical. AC was trying to extend their lead and Feehan was trying to pot the next goal. AC got to the majority of loose pucks first and won most of the wall battles, enabling them to control time of possession and keep Feehan out of their defensive zone. They did a good job of getting pucks behind Feehan’s defense, making it hard for them to make clean breakouts. Feehan pulled Theberge late and played 6-on-5 for the final minute but AC shut down the man advantage and closed out the game for the 3-1 win.
Three Stars:
- F Stephen Constantine, Arlington Catholic
- G Patrick Clair, Arlington Catholic
- F Ryan Eldridge, Bishop Feehan