Westboro, MA – It was a rare Monday night of action in the MIAA tonight so we made the drive down to Northstar Arena to catch a key early season matchup between the Shrewsbury Colonials and the Lincoln-Sudbury Warriors. This matchup featured two more of the Teams We Are Excited About, each integrating a lot of new talent to their rosters this season. This game was different from any of the games we’ve attended so far this season. First off, there were no rosters at the door, which was a bit of a surprise. Luckily, we had an ace in the hole thanks to a helpful parent in the stands who shared the information we were missing with us. The pregame was a somber affair as the announcer acknowledged the shooting that took place earlier today in Madison WI with a moment of silence. The bearded announcer then slipped right into an express rendition of the Star Spangled Banner that could not have lasted more than 30 seconds – quite possibly the fastest we’ve ever heard. Can we talk also about the range of not only calling the game but singing the anthem? MVP performance on the mic tonight…
In the first period, it was evident early what type of game this would become. The play was completely wide open: true firewagon hockey with each team trading chances on every shift. The speed in this game was blistering with both teams taking every inch of open ice available. There was also a tinge of nastiness with some post-whistle activities, clearly these teams were not planning to exchange holiday cards postgame. Still, cooler heads would prevail as we ended the first period scoreless.
In the second frame, the play was still wide open but infractions on both sides opened things up with more space to work with. Both teams were also willing to take more chances to get the glory. Just five minutes into the proceedings the seal was broken as a shot as junior forward Ryan Kelley put a shot on net and the resulting rebound was cleaned up in front by senior captain Christian Thoren: 1-0 Shrewsbury. You got the feeling watching this game that this was the dam-breaking moment we had been waiting for and just a minute later we were vindicated. Shrewsbury would double their lead as sophomore defender Cam Moore fired a shot pass to the backdoor which senior Shawn Salt was able to tap in to make it 2-0 Colonials. In what was a critical point of the game, Lincoln-Sudbury responded with a great shift and cut the lead in half 30 seconds later. Defender Niko Tzouganatos caught a pass on the power play from forward Noah Walsh, crept in and ripped a shot off the left post and in to make it 2-1. The Warriors weren’t done as they added the tying goal four minutes later as Walsh snapped off a nice shot from the left wing on the power play and it snuck through the five hole to tie us at 2-2. That’s how the period would end, but we were far from done with the scoring.
In the final frame, the play continued to be frenetic at both ends but the physicality picked up even more with each team finishing their hits along the walls and punishing the defense when they went back on the retrieval. The action in this frame started early at 4:41 off a steal behind the net by Kelley, who found Thoren out front in the slot for his second on the night it to give the Colonials the lead once again. That lead was short-lived however as a shot by Walsh from the top of the left circle snuck through the netminder on the power play to make it 3-3 all. 12 seconds later, it was untied as Shrewsbury went ahead for good. A shot by senior Tom Senior generated a rebound that was banged in by Kelley to make it 4-3. For the remainder of the period, both teams would create Grade A looks and there were spectacular saves at both ends and the defenses were quick to clear pucks before second chances could become problematic. As we got down to the final minutes, both Lincoln-Sudbury and Shrewsbury called their timeout within 20 seconds of each other. With under two minutes to play, the Warriors pulled their goalie looking for the equalizer. They created a couple of quality looks but a 180-foot clear by Shrewsbury forward Jaxon Sabataso drifted to the net and despite a desperation attempt to keep it off the goal line, it rolled home to secure the 5-3 win for Shrewsbury.
Three Stars
- F Ryan Kelley, Shrewsbury
- F Christian Thoren, Shrewsbury
- F Noah Walsh, Lincoln-Sudbury