North Billerica, MA – Tonight the Elite 8 got underway and we made the drive to Chelmsford Forum to watch the top seeded Billerica Indians take on the 8-seeded Auburn Rockets. There was a palpable buzz pregame and the parking lot was packed 15 minutes ahead of game time. This was essentially a home game for the Indians and their fans showed up big time, flooding the home side of the rink and taking up nearly every seat. Auburn brought the noise as well with a very loud fan section taking up a big chunk of the road side. The players looked amped up and ready for this one: most notably Auburn, who was sporting their Slim Shady homages of bleach blond hair as they lifted off their helmets for the pregame anthem. With that, we were ready for hockey.
In the first period, the game opened with both teams feeling out the opponent and the moment. Both teams were a bit conservative to start: it was rinse and repeat with cross corner dump ins to go chase it down. The deeper we got into the first, Billerica began to assert their will on the game and this period was all them. They continued to pressure opposing forwards on the breakout and those turnovers led to scoring chances. They would open the scoring at 4:50 as junior defender John Taft dished it off to freshman forward Thomas Egan near the faceoff dot and he ripped it home to make it 1-0. The Indians had the clear momentum and they were able to keep most of the play in the Auburn end. Six minutes later they would double their lead as senior forward James Columbus found senior sniper Dan Viscione just after a penalty had expired: 2-0 Billerica. Then there was a back breaker at the end of the period that elicited a bit of debate on the ice. Just as the buzzer sounded, Tim Murphy crept to the slot and fired one home and the debate was when exactly it went into the net. The fans weren’t entirely convinced it was a good goal on the Auburn side and after a short referee conference, the goal stood and the lead was 3-0 Billerica after 1.
As they got set to start the second period, the Rockets crowd was trying to build some energy for their team to get back into the game. You could tell that something was said in the Rockets’ locker room because they came out as a completely different team. They were way more physical and getting on pucks way faster and for the first couple minutes of the period they were dominating the offensive zone. But just 4:17 into the period the Indians picked up right where they left off. Anthony Parrella found big Shawn Tierney cutting right down the slot by himself and he ripped one under the glove of the goaltender to put them up 4-0. All the momentum had been going in the Indians’ favor so far in this one. As this game got under the 10 minute mark the Rockets built their own momentum as sophomore Daniel Miedona found himself on the half wall with the puck and threw the puck on net, hitting the goaltender’s stick and deflected in to make this a 4-1 game. Just a little over 2 minutes later, the Rockets were picking up on offense as they set up in the zone, Colson Caron found himself inside the circle with the puck and ripped one on net that found Sullivan O’Brien‘s stick on the way to the back of the net making this a 4-2 game. The remainder of the period would feature chances at both ends, but we went into the intermission with the score 4-2.
Both crowds were filled with energy cheering for their teams as they got set for the opening faceoff of the third period and you could barely hear the opening whistle. Both teams came out flying, getting right on pucks and finishing their body checks trying to advance to the next game. It continued in this manner for long stretches but as we approached the halfway marker, that’s where the Indians delivered the knockout. They entered the offensive zone on a 2 on 1 and senior Ed Conley put one right off the pad of the Rockets goaltender but the puck bounced right on to junior Ryan Johnson‘s stick and he was able to slide it into the back of the net to make it 5-2. After that, the play seemed largely academic but full credit to Auburn as they continued to battle until the final buzzer. The Billerica faithful was making plenty of noise and saw their club advance to the Final Four. The captains were provided a trophy on ice along with a banner and now they await the winner of Tewksbury vs Malden Catholic to see who they will face to earn a trip to TD Garden.
Three Stars:
- F Ryan Johnson, Billerica
- F Dan Viscione, Billerica
- F Daniel Miedona, Auburn