Foxboro, MA – MassNZ made the trip south to Foxboro to catch the Consolation Game of the Travis Roy Junior Beanpot which featured the Lexington Minutemen and the Brookline Warriors. For those unaware, the Junior Beanpot started in 2017 when then 13-year-old Jacob Gurdin motivated his Boston Junior Eagles team to play against the Junior Huskies, Junior Crimson, and Junior Terriers in the first Tournament to benefit the Travis Roy Foundation at the newly opened Warrior Arena. Gurdin and his brother went on to play at Brookline HS and carried on the tradition at the MIAA level featuring the four schools competing tonight: all to raise money for SCI Boston in Travis’ honor. If you have a moment, please consider donating to SCI Boston, which does such important work for individuals rehabbing spinal cord injuries. Back to hockey: Lexington and Brookline were upended in yesterday’s preliminary matchups and would face off again tonight. Having not seen either squad live, this was our chance to get deeper viewings on many new players.
In the first period, the action was decidedly even for the first few minutes and it would be Brookline who would open the scoring as senior forward Max Guo cruised down the right wing and fired a shot on net that left a rebound in the royal road that fellow senior Connor Erdman was much obliged to bury: 1-0 Warriors. The remainder of the frame saw Brookline winning more of the territorial battle and putting more shots on net. That pressure would lead to their second goal as sophomore Owen Lacy carried the puck behind the net and found junior Greg Aptekman in front to make it 2-0 Warriors with two minutes to go. Those final two minutes were largely academic and Brookline carried a 2-0 lead to the room.
In the second period, the offensive onslaught by Brookline was immediate as Erdman took a slick pass from his partner in crime Guo to make it 3-0 Warriors just 30 seconds in. The pressure from Brookline was relentless and they weren’t done cashing in. Just one minute later the roles would be reversed as Guo took a feed at the netfront from Erdman and that would increase the lead to 4-0 Brookline. On the next shift, they would effectively put a bow on this game. A faceoff win by senior Grady Ames was dished off to senior Jace Gangadharan who cruised into the attacking zone and fired one home under the bar to make it 5-0 Warriors. Following that goal the chirps were flying on both sides, we can only guess what they were discussing, but it clearly wasn’t MLK Day Weekend plans. A handful of chirping-related penalties later this period would end with the Warriors in firm control up 5-0.
In the final period, Lexington would come out strong and look to take back the momentum. They were off to a good start when they ended the Brookline shutout bid off a rebound put back by defenseman Caleb Fehm. The Minutemen strung a couple of good shifts together to build momentum, but it was snapped when Brookline would answer with eight minutes left. It was a pretty passing play by Erdman that fed Guo at the back door to make it 6-1 Brookline. Following that goal, the play was pretty much even and Lexington would cap the scoring with five and a half minutes. Sophomore Ryan Jenness gained the blue line with speed and found junior Patrick Semanchick wide open for the quick shot and score to give us our final score: Brookline 6, Lexington 2.
Three Stars:
- F Connor Erdman, Brookline
- F Max Guo, Brookline
- G Jack O’Connor, Brookline
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Newton North Captures Championship 4-3 in OT
Foxboro, MA – Following the Consolation Game all four teams in this Travis Roy Jr Beanpot gathered at center ice for a photo and three seniors from Brookline (Grady Ames, Max Guo and Thomas O’Brien) all spoke on mic to recognize Travis Roy’s important contributions to the community who has suffered spinal cord injuries. Following the short ceremony, the ice was cleared and after a quick warmup we were ready for the main event: the title game between the Bishop Feehan Shamrocks and the Newton North Tigers. The winner of this game would earn the coveted Junior Beanpot trophy and Bishop Feehan was looking to repeat as Champs having won in OT last year at Walter Brown Arena.
In the first period, there was an early feeling-out period between both teams: the neutral zone was a battlefield and neither team spent long in their defensive zone as the play was fast-paced and the transition game of both teams was on full display. There was no territorial advantage early as both teams generated shots and chances equally. Slowly but surely, however, Bishop Feehan began to acquire possession for longer stretches. They also generated more pressure and sure enough nine minutes in they would capitalize. Junior forward Cam Moura fed fellow junior Christopher Morrison who swept around the net and stuffed it home far side on the wraparound: 1-0 Shamrocks. Following that goal, the action was largely one-sided as Feehan fed off the momentum. 1-0 would be our score after one.
In the middle frame, the Tigers of Newton North pushed back and pushed back hard. Just 1:14 into the period they knotted this one up as sophomore forward Christian Cerone found senior Will Pryor open in front and he buried it five-hole to tie us up at 1-1. There was a big roar from the Newton North bench and the players were fired up. So much so that they would untie this game just 1:16 later. Sophomore Derek McAuliffe winged the puck cross-ice to junior Ray Arthur who was 10 feet from the right post along the goal line and he wired an off-angle lateral shot that found daylight: 2-1 Newton North had the lead. Following these two tallies the Tigers had all the momentum on their side and they were flying around on the forecheck to ensure Bishop Feehan had no breathing room. But as the period wore on, the tide began to turn and Bishop Feehan created their own momentum with heavy wall work and physicality down low. To combat this, the Tigers sacrificed their hands, knees, legs and anything else they could to block the Shamrock shots. Those blocks proved critical as they kept Bishop Feehan off the scoreboard and after two periods it was Newton North 2, Bishop Feehan 1.
The third period was a see-saw period that saw momentum swings a-plenty and lots of action at both ends. In the early minutes of the period Bishop Feehan was looking to get that next goal and stepped up their aggressiveness. It would pay off just under three minutes in as junior Dominic Felici dished a pass out front to freshman Patrick O’Reilly, who took a quick shot that snuck under the pad of the goalie: we were all tied at 2-2. Full credit to Newton North, however, they came right back with a response shift and strung together some possessions in the attacking zone to put Bishop Feehan on their heels. They would have an answer less than three minutes later as a great poke check by senior Max Li lead to a transition rush and Pryor dished it off to sophomore Gus Wallack who buried it on the royal road to make it 3-2 Newton North. From there, the Tigers were looking to clog lanes as best they could. Bishop Feehan was throwing the kitchen sink at them offensively and taking a lot of shots from different angles, but many were blocked down or kicked out by senior goalie Barnabe Dano. The lead remained 3-2 as the clock read 2:01 remaining and the Shamrocks called their timeout. This was their last stand to try and tie the game up. They initially kept goalie Logan Petrucci in the net following the faceoff but pulled him 10 seconds later and the team would score with the extra attacker on. Junior defender Tommy Besarick threw the puck on net in the middle of a scrum and it popped out to Moura who buried to knot us up with 1:40 left to play. As play continued, Newton North made a push to try and end this game in regulation, but a rebound chance went just wide of the left post and we headed to OT tied 3-3.
In the overtime period, we played 4-on-4 hockey which opened up the ice quite a bit. Both teams saw the value of possession which is why there were a lot of defensive zone regroups and quick on-the-fly line changes to ensure the freshest skaters were always on the ice. Attempt after attempt at both ends was either shot wide or blocked and neither team had the upper hand for the balance of the frame. That is, until Will Pryor called game. With 25.8 seconds remaining, the puck drifted out to the point and it was fired on net by Li. But it was Pryor who was in front of the net and got his stick on it to tip it past the Feehan netminder to give the Tigers the upset victory and the Junior Beanpot trophy. Both teams played a great game and gave it everything they had but one final note on this game was how much this meant for the Tigers. After the trophy presentation, they stayed on the ice for a good 10-15 minutes taking photos, skating the trophy around and celebrating with their teammates. Isn’t that what high school hockey is all about?
Three Stars:
- F Will Pryor, Newton North
- F Cam Moura, Bishop Feehan
- D Max Li, Newton North