Marlboro, MA – The New England Sports Center was the site of this New Year’s Day matchup between cross-town rivals: the Pioneers of St John’s Shrewsbury and the Colonials of Shrewsbury High School. This game is an important tilt for in-town bragging rights as both teams came in with winning records and sought the title of Shrewsbury’s best.
In a classic battle of The Publics vs The Catholics, the first period went to the Publics. From puck drop, the Colonials were buzzing all over the ice. Their forechecking made it tough for St. John’s to generate quick clean breakouts, and it would pay off early in the period. With 12:20 to go, junior speedster Ryan Kelley lost the puck on the wall in the Pioneers zone, but forward Jaxon Sabataso knocked it free and it was picked up by senior forward Christian Thoren. Thoren made a great cross-ice pass through traffic to Kelley and it bounced over to Sabataso who picked it up and put it to the net. His shot was denied by senior goalie Paul Bonina but Kelley would bang home the rebound to give the Colonials the 1-0 lead. Both teams had a few scoring chances, but Shrewsbury locked down and was stingy defensively, and goaltender Ethan Feldman was solid. With 5:53 left in the period, the Colonials would double up their lead. Sabataso and Kelley entered the zone on a 2-on-1 and once again it was Kelley with the goal. Sabataso slid the puck under the defender to Kelley and he beat Bonina who was in mid-slide to give his team the 2-0 lead. That would be our score after one.
Just a minute into the second the Kelley + Sabataso connection would strike again. Yet another 2-on-1 opportunity would produce a Kelley to Sabataso connection and the latter snapped a quick shot by Bonina for the 3-0 lead. Just a couple minutes after the Colonials’ 3rd goal, the Pioneers would finally get on the board. A shot from the point by sophomore defenseman Erik Nordahl was blocked out in front of Feldman, who was trying to find the puck and tie it up. Pioneers senior Jake Stacy was banging away at the loose puck and he found the back of the net to cut the lead to 3-1. St. John’s would get a power play opportunity with 9:00 left in the period and would add to their score quickly. Off the faceoff junior Tyler Bergman was carrying the puck behind the net, but on the way through, the puck kicked off the side of the net and right onto the stick of junior Brady Chenevert who was at the corner of the post. Chenevert quickly slid it under Feldman’s pad to cut the score to 3-2. After that, both teams traded some chances, and it appeared the period would end 3-2, but junior Ashton Smith had other ideas. With five seconds left in the period, senior captain Daniel Menyalkin chipped a puck off the side wall up to senior captain Anthony Desimone. Desimone quickly went D-to-D to his partner Smith who fired a shot that beat Feldman with one second left on the clock. St John’s never quit on the play and was rewarded with the tying goal at the buzzer.
St. John’s had shifted the momentum in their favor after the start of the second and would capitalize early in the third. With 13:50 on the clock, senior Dominic Reidy carried the puck down the right side, beat the Shrewsbury defenseman at the top of the circle and drove the net. He made a quick backhand to forehand move and beat Feldman far side to give the Pioneers their first lead of the game 4-3. The game was back and forth for the next seven minutes or so with both goalies making some key saves to keep the score 4-3. With the next goal being crucial, Pioneer junior forward Caleb Keyes made sure it went his team’s way. Keyes pulled a puck out of a scrum to the right of the net, walked out to the middle of the circle and fired a shot through traffic beating Feldman for St John’s 5th goal of the game. Both teams traded power play opportunities in the last five minutes with the Colonials getting theirs with two minutes to go. They elected to keep Feldman in the net and go 5-on-4. The Pioneers PK killed it off to secure the 5-3 comeback win.
Three Stars:
- F Dominic Reidy, St. John’s Shrewsbury
- F Ryan Kelley, Shrewsbury
- F Jaxon Sabataso, Shrewsbury