Canton, MA – Canton Ice House was abuzz with excitement as it held the rare distinction of the only venue to hold two MIAA Sweet 16 games in one evening. In the Red Rink, Xaverian was taking on Barnstable but in the Blue Rink it was the 3-seed Hingham Harbormen taking on the 14-seed St. John’s Shrewsbury Pioneers. The building pregame was buzzing for both games. The parking lots were jammed, the stands were full and the teams were amped up. We were ready to go.
In the first period, this game was being fought in the trenches. These are two teams who relish hard-nosed, physical play and have athleticism to move the puck out of their own ends. The early minutes featured a hard press by St John’s Shrewsbury as they were taking away any easy possessions from Hingham and gumming up the works as they attempted to exit their zone. That forecheck caused some issues as Hingham struggled to breakout cleanly and that led to more shots on net in favor of the Pioneers. The period continued and Hingham began to push back, they were connecting on cross-ice passes and wiring outlets up the ice. It was tough to get shots through, however, because the Pioneers were so effective at clogging the middle. The remainder of the period saw both teams trading chances but the shots on net heavily favored the Pioneers. It was very clear that the pregame message to the team was shoot early and shoot often because they did not turn down shots. As the first drew to a close, it was still 0-0 after 15 minutes of play.
In the second period, the tables were turned as Hingham turned up the heat on the forecheck and were very aggressive in puck pursuit. They were winning most of the strength battles and pushing the puck north with more regularity. St John’s Shrewsbury found ways to use their team speed to break through the neutral zone, but they were not able to create a great deal of Grade A looks. Both teams were trading chances deep into the period when the tenor of this game changed as the result of a turnover. With under five minutes to go it was sophomore forward Brendan McCarthy who picked off the pass at the dot and wired it short side to make it 1-0 Hingham. After that, the Pioneers engineered a push and put two of their best shots on net of the period, but they were both turned away by junior goalie Michael Karo. Onto the third we went with Hingham up 1-0.
In the third period, both teams made strong pushes to take control of the period. The Pioneers came back at Hingham with a strong counterpunch following the middle frame and were creating more offensive looks up ice. To Hingham’s credit, they withstood the storm and were able to block many shots and force the puck away from the middle of the ice. Even though the early action was decidedly even, you could slowly see the Pioneers building momentum by winning races and flipping pucks into the attacking zone to chase down. That confidence grew even further when they tied this game up eight minutes in. A strong outlet pass from senior captain Anthony DeSimone found fellow senior captain Daniel Menyalkin and the puck deflected to a streaking junior Ashton Smith who gained the zone and fired a shot past Karo short side to tie us up at 1-1. Following this goal, you could feel the tension between both fanbases as there was no telling where the game would go from here. Both teams traded chances over the next five minutes and both teams looked to settle things down and took their timeouts to regroup in the final two minutes of play. We did not see a regulation winner, which meant we were headed to OT, much like the game next door, but, not without a little late drama. Hingham senior Matt McLellan poked a puck past the defenseman with 7 seconds left and was hauled down in the process of getting off a backhand shot that hit the left post as he fell. A penalty was assessed on the play, which meant Hingham would carry a full 2-minute power play into overtime. The Hingham bench was arguing for a penalty shot, but regardless, on we went to OT.
In overtime, Hingham skated with a 4-on-3 advantage and wheeled the puck around the offensive zone looking for the dagger that would end it. As the power play advanced, there were not many shots getting through to the goalie and that opportunity went by the boards. The penalty kill created plenty of momentum for the Pioneers and after a long clock delay at the penalty benches, it seemed as though some of the air was let out of the building. That is, until the game winner was scored. Two minutes after the penalty expired, Pioneers junior forward Tyler Bergman and junior forward Brady Chenevert criss-crossed the zone as they entered and Bergman was able to beat the defender to the back wall and he flung a backhand pass out in front which Chenevert was able to tap in: the Pioneers take the win 2-1 in OT.
Three Stars:
- F Brady Chenevert, St. John’s Shrewsbury
- F Tyler Bergman, St. John’s Shrewsbury
- F Brendan McCarthy, Hingham