Marlboro, MA – MassNZ made the trip out to the Mass Mecca that is New England Sports Center to see Senior Night for the Hopkinton Hillers as they took on the Dedham Marauders in what was sure to be a fast transition battle. Both teams love to fly and it should be a speedy game, that’s our hope to help dodge the snowflakes on the way home. Tonight’s festivities were plentiful by Rink 8 with multiple tables and balloons set up hosting raffles, swag, baked goods and much more with all profits going to Hockey Fights Cancer. After the four seniors were feted on the ice pregame we were ready to go.
In the first period, it did not take long to crack the scoresheet as senior captain Brian Dunne zipped up the wing and found Bilotta Squad alum and senior speedster Tim Holton. He proceeded to pull off a backhand spin-o-rama to make it 1-0 Marauders. Hopkinton had an answer three and a half minutes later as senior defender Parker Winn set up senior striker James Hayward at the back post and he maneuvered around a defensive stick to tie us up at 1-1. Hopkinton began to feed off that momentum and three minutes later they would take the lead as a set breakout on power play saw freshman Matt Pedroli hand it up to freshman Will Iantosca who found freshman Parker Rivera on the back door: 2-1 Hillers. Just a minute later, Dedham would answer right back as senior forward Ryan Laughter threw the puck on net from the dot and it snuck through the goalie’s pads to make it a 2-2 game. After that, the action would be completely even as every shift was back and forth up and down the ice. It seemed like we would head into the second period knotted at two but Tte team to get the last laugh in the period was Dedham. Senior defender Nick Moreno fired a shot from the point that junior forward Pat Stamm tipped home and our score after one was Dedham 3, Hopkinton 2.
In the middle frame, once again we were back to firewagon hockey: up and down the sheet, quick transitions and lots of stickhandling in open ice. Hopkinton made a change in net, going from senior Connor Fryer to sophomore Colton Spavento. Despite the change, Dedham had the early advantage in this period with a nearly full two minutes of 5-on-3 advantage. Just under two minutes into the period we had another tally as Stamm would score his second straight: once again tipping home a shot from the point on the power play. Twenty seconds later it was that dude again Holton who caught a lateral pass and rifled a shot past the goalie’s pad to make it 5-2 Dedham. Things felt pretty secure for the Marauders at that point, but nobody told the Hillers, who continued to fight back. A minute and a half later senior forward Stephen Leighton fed Pedroli who cruised across the slot and fired one home to make it 5-3. The Hillers would feed off that momentum and add another one minute later as Hayward made a nice cross-ice pass to junior Jack Resnick to make it 5-4. The Hiller bench was hyped at that point and feeling the momentum but to Dedham’s credit they evened the playing field and slowed down the Hopkinton attack. They also got a big boost from a penalty shot stonewall by senior Noel Adams with a couple minutes remaining. The frame would end with the Marauders up 5-4.
In the third period, Hopkinton took control of the period right from the jump as they maintained more possession and began to push the pace more effectively in the attacking zone. It seemed like we may never see another goal scored as we went a full 15 minutes of regulation without anyone scoring! That was soon squashed at the five minute mark as Hopkinton’s Winn was able to create a lane with his feet and snap home a strong shot to tie us up at 5-5. Just a minute and forty seconds later the Hillers would reclaim the lead as Resnick found Hayward for his second goal of the night that he wired home five hole: 6-5 Hillers. Once again, full credit to Dedham as they did not go away quietly. They responded on the next shift and tied this game back up at 6-6. It was Laughter who got to the front of the net first on a rebound and banged it home to tie us up. Two and a half minutes later: Hopkinton would respond as Winn crept down from the point and stuffed home a rebound at the netfront to give the Hillers a lead they would not relinquish with three and a half minutes left. About a minute later, Dedham called a timeout to talk strategy and reset mentally but Hopkinton would put the nail in the coffin a few seconds later. It would be Hayward who would complete his hat trick walking around a defender and the goalie with a slick move to give us our final score: 8-6 Hillers, who take the W on Senior Night.
Three Stars:
- F James Hayward, Hopkinton
- F Tim Holton, Dedham
- D Parker Winn, Hopkinton