Woburn, MA – Once the first game was over, we moved on to the second D3 Elite 8 matchup between the 5-seeded Triton Vikings and the 4-seeded Scituate Sailors. The juice in the building pregame was palpable on both sides of the rink. The Sailors brought a large contingent of students north who were clad in green garments, Irish flags and scally caps. On the other side were the Viking students who were loud and proud in their whiteout theme, including homemade t-shirt jerseys. Both of these teams have size, skill and speed, so this game promised to be quite a tilt. We were ready for some additional playoff hockey.
In this first period it started off fast as both teams were flying in open ice, looking to net that first goal. In the early action, Triton owned most of the possession and most of the quality chances. Their transition out of their zone was clean and quick which led to more chances offensively. They peppered the net early, but were unable to solve senior goalie Mark Francis. As the period progressed, Scituate began to push back and used their length and strength to their advantage. The game still remained scoreless until late in the frame when Scituate took advantage of a Triton defender who was hurt on the play. After the defender went down behind the net, the Sailors had an easy 2-on-1 at the net front and senior forward Owen Lochiatto fed senior forward Luke Ryan for the game’s first goal. And then with about 30 seconds left they would add another off a beautiful individual effort by Lochiatto who slipped by two defenders and buried a beauty of a backhander to make it 2-0 which is how this period would end as the Sailors had all the momentum.
In the second period, Triton came out strong and fast to push the pace, looking to spark some momentum. The first few shifts they dominated time of possession, shots on goal and put plenty of pressure on Francis. As the period rolled on, Scituate slowly began to claw back and the play shifted into the neutral zone and then primarily into the attacking zone. Once we got to the six minute mark, they had firm control and would pad their lead. Lochiatto picked off a pass with a great play in the defensive zone and went in on the breakaway. He was hooked on the way into the offensive zone, which led to a delayed penalty call, but still, the Sailors persisted as they outnumbered Triton at the net and Luke Ryan buried his second on the night. It was announced as unassisted but Lochiatto would beg to differ. The period moved fast after that, as there were not many whistles and the action was back and forth. Both teams were gassed after a long stretch with no stoppages. So much so that the Triton coach called a timeout with 1:52 left to settle his team and give them a breather. The remainder of the period was largely academic and on we went with the score Scituate 3, Triton 0.
In the third period, the Sailors pressed firmly down on the accelerator and ended this one early as a shot from the point by sophomore defenseman Cole Ryan produced a rebound that senior forward Nate Sannella was able to bang in to make it 4-0 Scituate. That goal took the wind out of Triton’s sails and it was all Sailors after that. A minute and a half later it was again Cole Ryan from almost the exact same spot on the blue line firing a shot on net and this time it was junior Lucas Henderson with the nice hand-eye coordination to tip it home to make it 5-0 Scituate. At that point, Scituate continued to press defensively and used their length and layers to take away most of the quality looks by Triton. Then with 10:40 left in the period, Scituate capped off the scoring sending us into running time as an initial shot by Luke Ryan was tapped in at the left post by Lochiatto, his second of the game and fourth point of the night. Despite a couple of late breakaways, Francis was able to shut the door and the Sailors would complete the shutout 6-0. They will take on top-seed Nauset at Gallo Arena on Sunday at 5:15pm.
Three Stars:
- F Owen Lochiatto, Scituate
- G Mark Francis, Scituate
- F Luke Ryan, Scituate