Groton, MA – For the first time this season, MassNZ has ventured outside of Division 1 and decided to head out to Groton to see Dracut/Tyngsboro Middies take on the Groton Dunstable Crusaders. This was a matchup of two of the top teams in Division 3: the Middies check in at 15 in the MIAA Power Rankings and the Crusaders are currently at 9. This tilt would represent an important swing game for Friday’s updated MIAA Rankings reveal. We also wanted to ensure we had an in-person viewing of both teams ahead of February so we could maximize the number of games we could cover. That brought us out to Groton School for this big matchup. The parking lot was packed pregame and there was a strong contingent from both schools in the stands including a few Dracut students proudly announcing that “Parking Lot Postgame is here so it’s time to ball out!” We couldn’t agree more.
In the first period, the early edge belonged to the Middies as they were aggressive and took away critical ice on the breakout and made zone exits a nightmare. There were long stretches where the Crusaders struggled to cross the red line, but to their credit, they stood on business in their own end by not allowing a goal. Junior goalie Cam Columbus was able to navigate the traffic and kicked out every shot. As the period wore on they began to chip away at the possession battle and even created a couple of slick breakaway chances which required Middies freshman Grayson Blakley to make two point-blank saves to keep the game scoreless. He was able to do so and the period ended with the momentum evened out and the score still remained at 0-0.
In the second period, the early puck possession belonged to Groton Dunstable as they took control and aggressively looked to create lanes to the net. They were moving the puck well and engaging with their feet but Blakley stood tall once again in net for the Middies. As the period continued, the Middies began to take control and for the balance of the period, they would not let up. Their work in the offensive zone led to the game’s first goal as junior Chad Vigeant threw a loose puck at the net behind the goal line and it deflected home to make it 1-0 Dracut/Tyngsboro 6:23 in. After that first goal you could feel some of the air leave the balloon and just 16 seconds later the Middies would double their lead. It was a slick move to the middle by senior captain Charlie Wilkie and he ripped one home from the slot to make it 2-0. At that point the Middies owned all the momentum and they held onto the puck for long stretches, not allowing many shots on net. Four minutes later and the Middies would add another tally as a too-many-men penalty led to a power play for Dracut/Tyngsboro and a faceoff win by Wilkie squirted to senior captain Brenden Modeski who threw a puck on net quickly and it slipped through the five hole to make it 3-0 with less than five minutes to go in the frame. The Crusaders would create a couple of turnovers and put some quality shots on net before the buzzer, but none of them crossed the goal line. It was 3-0 after 30 minutes.
In the third period, Groton Dunstable brought more pressure and showed more urgency than we had seen all game. Not only were they possessing the puck but they were winning physical battles and forcing the puck deep. They were looking to blitz the attacking zone and no shot was a bad shot. They made several of the right tactical moves and they created several quality scoring chances and generated a couple of rebounds, but Blakley was on a mission tonight. Not only did he not let anything through, but he was in the opponent’s head because he was getting to every shot. The Middies would put the icing on the cake eight minutes in as the puck was pushed to space by freshman Josef Salvo and it was skated into the attacking zone off the left wing by Modeski who froze the goalie and snapped a shot by him far side to make it 4-0. The remainder of this game was largely academic and that would ultimately be the final score.
Three Stars:
- G Grayson Blakley, Dracut/Tyngsboro
- F Brenden Modeski, Dracut/Tyngsboro
- F Charlie Wilkie, Dracut/Tyngsboro