Boston, MA – MassNZ made the drive down to Boston and stopped off at Warrior Ice Arena to catch a prime time D1 matchup between the 4 seeded Catholic Memorial Knights and the 13 seeded Arlington Catholic Cougars. We got into the barn early because we had heard that this was a pre-game sellout and sure enough, the barn was completely packed 20 minutes ahead of game time. The seats were full, the balcony was lined 2-3 deep and additional fans were lining the glass that were 2-3 deep as well. The CM football team came out to support their hockey counterparts, painted their chests and were cheering loudly in the front row. The Arlington Catholic faithful brought the noise at the other end of the ice, dressed in high visibility and neon gear and making plenty of noise as well. This was destined to be a great tilt as evidenced by the juice in the building as the CM students sang the Star Spangled Banner pregame. We were ready to rock.
In the first period, the opening minutes featured both teams feeling the game out and looking to play more safely. As we got deeper into the period, both teams started opening the pace up and the speed picked up in a big way. The early action was tight defensively and physical, but both teams were very detail-oriented in shutting down the areas around the net. The action began to open up later in the frame as the teams traded rushes but the first tally would go to the Knights 10 minutes in. Senior captain Seamus Tattan dished the puck just below the faceoff dot and senior forward Luke Long was there to collect it and snap it top shelf to give the Knights a 1-0 lead. The student section went berserk and the building was vibrating. The Knights had the edge but Arlington Catholic was clever in creating scoring chances down low, including a couple of Grade A looks that squibbed past the paint. Just four minutes later, Catholic Memorial would double their lead as freshman Declan Tattan found senior captain Morgan Lenehan and that made it a 2-0 advantage. After one period, that was our score and the Knights carried plenty of momentum into the locker room.
In the second period, it was largely a continuation of the first period and the Knights owned the majority of the possession. The Cougars were scrappy defensively and found ways to limit most of the Knights’ shots to the outside but the shot disparity was growing with each minute ticking off the clock. Catholic Memorial was playing heavier on the puck defensively and didn’t allow many shots in the period as a result. They kept the action buzzing in the attacking zone but to the Cougars’ credit, and namely Patrick Clair’s credit, they did not let another shot in. There were no goals scored in the middle frame so on we went to the third with the Knights up 2-0.
In the third period, the Cougars made a push early but they were ultimately rebuked by the Knights. Territorially, most of the plays were taking place in the Cougars’ defensive zone. The minutes continued to tick off the clock and the situation was getting more dire for the Cougars. Catholic Memorial was intent on playing to their strengths of keeping most of the action away from the front of the net; however, they were holding back on the attack. That strategy began to slowly tilt the scales in Arlington Catholic’s direction as we got much later into the frame with under six minutes to go, the Knights iced the puck on multiple shifts, giving the Cougars a chance to establish a rhythm in the attacking zone that they hadn’t had all night, and it produced a key goal late. A shot from the point came off the stick of 8th grader Daniel Vashkevich after a faceoff win by Stephen Constantine and in front of the net was senior Nico Tashjian to tip it home and cut the lead in half to make it 2-1 with 4:10 remaining. This gave the Cougars the late life they had been looking for to get back in this game but it was also a wakeup call for the Knights. As a result, the Knights put the hammer down defensively and relied on their size and strength to kill the clock along the boards and win battles for pucks in open ice. The Cougars still battled and called a timeout with 1:36 remaining and shortly thereafter pulled the goalie, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit. #4 seed Catholic Memorial secured the 2-1 win and they will advance to the Elite 8 to face either BC High or Archbishop Williams at a neutral site to be announced.
Three Stars:
- F Morgan Lenehan, Catholic Memorial
- F Luke Long, Catholic Memorial
- F Nico Tashjian, Arlington Catholic