Newburyport, MA – MassNZ made the drive out to the coast to catch an intriguing D3 matchup as 7-seed Triton Vikings hosted 26-seed Middleboro-Carver-Wareham Sachems. The Sachems had won a play-in game over Greater Lowell-Nashoba Tech earlier in the week for right to play Triton and this promised to be a game where both teams could threaten to score off the rush. The Triton student section was densely packed and vocal at puck drop whereas the Middleboro crowd was primarily parents, siblings and a smattering of additional supporters. There was a palpable buzz pregame and we wondered if it would translate to the first period.
Sure enough, in the first period both teams came out flying and the bulk of the early possession belonged to the Sachems, whose top line of James Joyce, Wyatt Goyette and Sam Steinman were creating most of the chances. Triton used their size and structure early to limit shots and for the ones that got through, junior netminder Gavin Marengi was able to stop them. The territorial battle was one-sided for the first couple of shifts and then the ice was tilted back to even and eventually favored the Vikings. They were able to engage their transition speed and created several quality rushes as well. The period would remain scoreless until the 10th minute when senior defender Cam Neary would flip a puck on net from the point and it would deflect home top corner to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead. That is how the period would end as the Vikings looked to carry that momentum into the middle frame.
In the second period, Middleboro came out of the gate with a strong first three minutes and hemmed the puck in the attacking zone, but they were unable to get the quality look at the net that they were hoping for and the Vikings were able to exit the zone and tilt the ice back in their favor. As the period wore on, the Vikings recognized the best weapon against the Sachems was to keep the puck away from their skill players and they did exactly that. Triton’s players were playing with pace and purpose and would pad their lead nine minutes in as junior speedster Mason Colby found fellow junior Luke Sullivan below the dot and he wired one home to make it 2-0. At this point the momentum was mounting for Triton and it continued as Sullivan added another strike three minutes later following a power play in the vulnerable minute by wiring one from above the circle off the crossbar and in. The score was now Vikings 3-0 and Middleboro needed to mount a comeback effort. They finished the period strong with two good shifts but the buzzer sounded before they could get on the board. On we went to the third to decide this one.
In the final frame, Middleboro came out hard and strong on the puck and were flying around looking to create better scoring chances. Ultimately their plan was to score one quick to turn the tide but they were unable to do so and once Triton had withstood the attack, they took control and tilted the ice back in their favor. The next goal was critical and it came off the stick of Sullivan on the power play, for his third of the night, completing the natural hat trick in just under 10 minutes of gameplay. Shortly after scoring his third, he added a fourth with a nice forehand backhand finish to make it 5-0 Vikings. Just a minute later, another goal came as freshman forward Vaughn Gagnon found a loose puck in front of the net and buried it to make it 6-0. Those quick succession goals were the daggers: Middleboro played hard to the final buzzer and created a number of looks in the final minutes, but they were unable to find their way onto the scoreboard. In the final three minutes, Colby found himself alone in front of the net and took two shots on net, the first produced a juicy rebound and the second he finished into the top half of the net to produce our final score: 7-0. Triton advances to the Round of 16 where they will host 10th-seeded Medfield.
Three Stars:
- F Luke Sullivan, Triton
- G Gavin Marengi, Triton
- F Mason Colby, Triton