Arlington, MA – The Ghosts of Westford Academy traveled to the Ed Burns Arena to face off against the Cougars of Arlington Catholic in this Round of 32 D1 playoff game.
AC came out flying from the drop of the puck. They got pucks behind Westford’s defensemen early and often and applied constant pressure, establishing their forecheck. Westford had trouble breaking out of their zone early and often but did a good job of clogging the middle and keeping AC to the outside, limiting their quality scoring chances. Senior goalie Kieran Humphreys made a few solid saves to keep AC off the board early. Westford would go on the power play a couple of minutes into the period and they would capitalize. Senior captain Nick Burns won a puck battle behind the net and moved the puck to senior Jack Donovan on the elbow. Donovan fed senior captain JJ Funaro at the top of the umbrella and he sent a quick shot to the net. Senior captain goalie Patrick Clair was screened heavily and couldn’t track the puck, and it beat him up high over his catching glove, giving Westford the 1-0 lead. AC continued to lock down in the neutral zone picking off multiple breakout attempts by the Ghosts, and continued their heavy forecheck. With just under six minutes to go, AC would tie the game. With a faceoff to the left of Humphreys, junior Alex Frost pushed the puck forward off the draw and senior captain Nico Tashjian crashed the net off the right wing side of the circle and slid it under Humphreys. The period ended 1-1 with AC controlling most of the play.
Just like the first period, Westford went on a power play shortly after puck drop in the second. AC did a good job getting in shooting lanes and blocking shots and was able to kill it off. AC picked up where they left off in the first with heavy offensive zone time. Westford was content with letting them cycle outside the dots, and go low to high to use their defensemen. Westford stepped into the shooting lanes to block shots, frustrating the Cougars’ offense. Westford did a great job defensively taking away lanes and clogging up the middle of the zone limiting AC to a lot of outside shots. AC played fast and got to every loose puck in the offensive zone. They threw everything they had at Humphreys but the period ended still tied at 1-1.
Just like the first and second periods, one minute into the third period we had a power play, but this time it was Westford who would be a man down. As a result, AC would take the lead. Junior Stephen Constantine carried the puck down the left wall into the Ghosts zone. Constantine was getting hit on the wall and dropped the puck for freshman Ayden Giardina at the top of the circle. Giardina snapped a quick shot off beating Humphreys and giving the Cougars the 2-1 lead. With the advantage, AC got back to their dump-and-chase style and just applied constant pressure to Westford’s defensemen and goalie. Humphreys stood tall, making multiple saves through the middle of the period to keep the game 2-1. The last six minutes of the period was all AC. They were all over Westford in every zone. Westford did a great job in their own zone just like the last two periods of taking away shooting lanes and clogging up the middle. Westford pulled Humphreys with 1:30 to go and AC would make it 3-1. Frost chipped the puck into the neutral zone to Giardina. Giardina found Tashjian coming down the right wing and he buried it into the empty net. Westford just couldn’t muster up enough offense all game and AC would go on to win the game 3-1 and advance to the Sweet 16. They will face 4th seed Catholic Memorial in Boston on March 1 at 8pm.
Three Stars
- F Nico Tashjian, Arlington Catholic
- F Ayden Giardina, Arlington Catholic
- F Alex Frost, Arlington Catholic