Canton, MA – MassNZ made the drive down to Canton to check out the Consolation Game of the Arrow Sports Holiday Classic, taking place this year at the Canton Ice House. The two squads competing were the Braintree Wamps and the Xaverian Hawks. The vibe in the rink was spirited even before puck drop and the stands were largely full and the parents and alums were loud: impressive for a consolation game. We looked forward to our first viewing of both teams.
In the first period, both teams got off to a slow start but the intensity picked up quickly. There was no love lost in this game with multiple facewashing and let’s call them…happy holiday greetings occurring between whistles. Both teams settled into their systems early: Braintree was strong in the house protecting their goal and Xaverian was looking to fly the zone and create odd-man chances in transition. Despite that, both teams created a few Grade A looks and neither squad was able to convert. We entered the second period still tied at 0-0.
In the middle frame, the action picked up right from the opening shift. Xaverian won the faceoff and carried up ice as junior defender Beckett Soule found an open lane and fired it on net. Senior forward Devin Gosciak was able to tip it past the goalie to make it 1-0 Hawks. Early in the frame, the Hawks had all the momentum and were using their team speed to gain possession and play keep away for long stretches. Braintree senior netminder Amir Cullinane was flashing quick pads and making great saves to keep this game close but the Hawks would double their lead at the seven-minute mark. On the power play, senior forward Jackson Morse found Gosciak at the faceoff dot and he snuck home a quick wrister to make it 2-0 Hawks. The Wamps did not sit back after the second goal, they went on the attack. Five minutes later, they would cut the lead in half. An interference call on Xaverian led to a power play and the Wamps would convert. Senior forward Matt Ryan found senior defender Matt Harvey parallel to the goal line and he fired one from an odd angle and buried top shelf: 2-1 Hawks. That would be our score after two periods of play.
In the third period, it was all Xaverian. They had the edge on puck possession, shots and Grade A chances. Once again, it was Cullinane who continued to slam the door shut. They continued their push until a Braintree counterpunch staggered their progress. With just over five minutes to go, junior forward Jason Williams slid the puck over to an open freshman forward Kinno Zhu who buried a one-timer in the slot to knot us up at 2-2. It looked like this game was headed to OT but everything changed in the final minute. Xaverian took its timeout with an offense zone draw coming and 48.2 seconds to go. 22 seconds later, Braintree committed an infraction that gave Xaverian a power play. The Wamps called their timeout and strategized how to limit ice on the penalty kill. They largely kept the possession on the outside but a Xaverian shot got through and a scrum ensued in the final five seconds. Soule took a shot that slipped through the five hole and sat on the goal line and junior forward Joe Von Handorf was able to bang it home with 1.2 seconds left to give the Hawks a 3-2 nail-biter of a victory in this Consolation Game.
Three Stars:
- F Joe Von Handorf, Xaverian
- F Devin Gosciak, Xaverian
- G Amir Cullinane, Braintree
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Arrow Sports Holiday Classic Championship
Canton, MA – We stuck around after the Consolation Game of the Arrow Sports Holiday Classic to take in the Main Event: the Championship match between the Archbishop Williams Bishops and the Hingham Harbormen. Both teams won their way into the Final and this promised to be one of the better games of the weekend.
We were not disappointed following the drop of the puck as both teams were going for it and leaving everything out on the ice. The pace of play was high, possibly the fastest game we’ve seen at the D1 level this year. Both teams were quick, crafty and intelligent with their decisions. Both teams were looking to create off the rush which led to a number of quality scoring chances. Despite all the action, it was still 0-0 early…until the nine-minute mark when everything changed. Hingham sophomore forward Brendan McCarthy dished to the point and teed up senior defender Andrew Palek who buried a rocket through traffic to make it 1-0 Hingham. Just 16 seconds later Archies would have the equalizer as senior sniper Finn Kelly found some room top shelf to tie it at 1-1. Just three minutes later they would build on that momentum as Kelly found sophomore forward Quinn Taylor on the rush who threw it at the net and it deflected in: 2-1 Archies. The remainder of the period would feature more possession and chances for the Bishops, but 2-1 would be our score after 1.
In the second period, Archies was feeding off the first period momentum and owned the possession for long stretches of the second. Despite that, Hingham was the first on the board as they tied it up following a quick snap shot down low by senior forward Robert Dixon: 2-2 game. Following the first period script, Archies would respond two minutes later with a nice dish by senior Pat Hampton to sophomore Jack Healy who buried it top shelf to make it 3-2 Bishops. The game then settled into a nice rhythm with a fast pace of play and the physicality was ratcheted up which led to a few roughing penalties along the way. In the twelfth minute, we saw one of the slickest finishes on the afternoon as junior Conal Mulkerrin caught a pass from senior Colin Lasch and stashed a forehand backhand breakaway move to tie the game 3-3. Just four minutes later, Hingham would untie it on the power play as Mulkerrin wired a pass cross-ice to Cam McKenna to make it 4-3 Hingham. That would be our score after two periods of play.
In the third period, the early minutes largely belonged to Hingham. They had scored the last two goals, and they would score the next two early in this period. Five and a half minutes into the frame, a netfront scrum led to a scrappy score by junior forward Colin Garrity to make it 5-3 Harbormen. Just 30 seconds later they would pad that lead with a slick feed by Lasch to McKenna who deposited his second goal of the game. The lead was now 6-3 Hingham and you could feel the sinking feeling within the Archies cheering section which had been vociferous all game long to that point. The way this game was trending, Hingham was cruising and using their physicality to shut down Archies, a stark change from the first period. This looked to be a comfortable win until Archbishop Williams took a smart timeout with 4:18 to go and the coaching staff refocused the team to make one final push. Just 30 seconds later, Archies began to chip away. Junior speedster Steve O’Malley fired a wrister under the crossbar that the referees did not signal as a goal, but Kelly was quick to pounce on the puck on the goal line and tapped it home to make it 6-4. You could see the belief on the bench and they would be further galvanized a minute and a half later as freshman sniper Jake Guerriero buried a pass off the wall from Healy and all of a sudden we had a one-goal game at 6-5. The final two-plus minutes were an all-out blitz by Archies as they looked to tie it. But credit to Hingham as they were able to limit the shot totals even though the Bishops were shooting from anywhere and everywhere. After pulling the goalie, there were a couple of shots that just missed the net and Hingham escaped to claim the Arrow Sports Holiday Classic 6-5. This was one of the best games we’ve seen all season.
Three Stars:
- F Cam McKenna, Hingham
- F Finn Kelly, Archbishop Williams
- F Conal Mulkerrin, Hingham