Marlboro, MA – The St John’s Shrewsbury Pioneers hosted the Burlington Red Devils in a first-round MIAA matchup at the New England Sports Center in Marlboro, MA. The Pioneers built an early 3-0 lead and rolled to a 6-2 victory.
4:36 in, Logan Cotter popped home the first goal on a slick passing play by Tyler Bergman and Dominic Reidy. Thirty-seven seconds later, Matthew McGinty buried a rebound of a Jaydon Wrzosek shot to make it 2-0 Pioneers. Carter Richard also added an assist. St John’s carried the play until they struck again with 5:52 left in the first. Caleb Keyes intercepted a goalie clear and wristed home the tough angle shot. It was 3-0 Pioneers after one frame.
Things got better for the home team as Reidy redirected a backdoor pass from Derek Mulligan to make it 4-0. The Red Devils took a timeout and responded. Freshman Nick Tulipano snapped a shot home off the wall to give Burlington a score and a spark. The period ended with a 4-1 Pioneers lead, but Burlington had some chances and was gaining momentum.
The Devil’s momentum was stopped early in the first as Wrzosek deposited a turnover into an empty Burlington net to make it 5-1 just one minute and 53 seconds into the third period. Burlington added a goal about halfway through the period on a Sean Torpey rip from Ryan McWhinnie. It was 5-2, and Burlington was able to get their goalie out. However, Reidy snapped a low shot into the vacated goal. Bergman earned the assist. 6-2 was the final score.
Three Stars
First: Tyler Bergman (SJS)
Second: Jaydon Wrzosek (SJS)
Third: Dominic Reidy (SJS)