Framingham, MA – Tonight was the opening round of the MHL/Pat Serio Cup which featured the St. John’s Shrewsbury Pioneers facing off against the Panthers of Franklin High School at Loring Arena in Framingham. Each team was vying for a chance to play in tomorrow’s Championship match but only one would prevail…
St. John’s Shrewsbury came out of the gate quickly and put Franklin on their heels. Their forecheck was relentless, creating pressure on the Panthers’ defensemen, causing multiple scoring chances in tight around the crease. The Pioneers drove the net hard early generating plenty of offensive chances but senior goalie Jack O’Connor was sharp early, keeping the game scoreless. Franklin chipped away, and with each possession started generating some zone time but St. John’s was stingy in their own zone, limiting them to only a handful of shots all period. St John’s would finally break through with 5:20 left on the clock. Senior captain Dominic Reidy stole the puck off of a Franklin forward’s stick in the high slot and fired a shot on O’Connor. He made the initial save but the rebound trickled to sophomore forward Jaydon Wrzosek and he banged it home on the doorstep to give the Pioneers the 1-0 lead.
Franklin needed a good start in the second and they had just that. From the drop of the puck, they were flying, physical and all over the puck. They had a couple of chances early but senior goalie Paul Bonina stopped them both. The Panthers would eventually take a penalty at the 11-minute mark and St John’s would make them pay. Senior captain Daniel Menyalkin slid a pass from the right elbow up top to junior defenseman Kevin Bisson. Bisson took a step and ripped a shot through traffic beating O’Connor to give the Pioneers the 2-0 lead. Both teams competed hard and the game was physical. St John’s ended up taking back-to-back penalties: giving the Panthers a 5-on-3 power play, and they would take advantage of it. Senior captain Carter Balducci had the puck on the left elbow and hit senior captain Jack Wernig with a pass across the royal road . Wernig one-timed the pass, beating Bonina short side to cut the lead to 2-1, and that’s how the period would end.
The third period was filled with multiple penalties on both sides, and St. John’s would go on the power play just a couple of minutes into the period. It seemed that Franklin would get out of the kill unscathed, but with 10 seconds left off a weird bounce, they would go down by two. Bisson walked in from the blue line and let a shot go that missed the net but it took an advantageous bounce and ended up on junior forward Brady Chenevert’s stick. Chenevert collected the puck at the right post and slid it by the sprawling O’Connor, giving St. John’s a 3-1 lead. The rest of the period was very chippy and turned into a special teams bonanza, with each team taking multiple penalties. Neither team was able to capitalize on the rest of their power play chances and St. John’s would ultimately earn the 3-1 victory.
The win moves them into the winners bracket tomorrow where they will play the winner of the Marshfield vs Framingham game.
Three Stars:
- D Kevin Bisson, St John’s Shrewsbury
- F Brady Chenevert, St John’s Shrewsbury
- F Jaydon Wrzosek, St John’s Shrewsbury