Lowell, MA – Tonight was the eve of the final regular season game for MassNZ and we picked a great one to go out with a bang. We made the trip out to Tsongas Center to catch two 16+ win teams do battle for playoff positioning. This was the Middies of Dracut/Tyngsboro taking on the Bernardians of St Bernard’s in a primetime tilt at one of the premier rinks in the state. DT was sporting a record of 16-1-2 coming into this tilt, whereas St Bernard’s had gone 17-2-0 and both teams were top 10 in their respective divisions. DT is currently ranked 7th in D3 and St. Bernards is currently ranked 6th in D4 per the MIAA Power Rankings. Pregame, the mood was one of nervous anticipation as both teams’ fans filed in. After a quick lineup read and anthem we were ready for hockey.
In the first period, the edge belonged to Dracut/Tyngsboro as their team speed was overwhelming early. They rolled multiple lines and played at a pace that was tough to match. It would only take them two and a half minutes to get on the scoreboard as a scramble in front of the net led to an initial close-range shot from DT senior Charlie Wilkie which in turn took a wacky bounce off a Bernardian defender’s stick into the net for a 1-0 lead. The Middies would continue to put the pressure on through the opening minutes but once the St. Bernards lineup was able to stretch their legs they brought plenty of team speed of their own. The game was a bit more even at that point but the slight edge in possession and quality chances went to the Middies, who would pad their lead at the nine-minute mark. Sophomore forward Patrick Bernard found a wide-open senior forward Jake Haubner who wired it top shelf to give his team a 2-0 lead. At this point, the Bernardians made their strongest push of the night and they would respond just two minutes later following a penalty on the Middies. A point shot by junior Jahiem Jah found the stick of junior Pheonix Fortier, who tipped it home to cut the lead in half at 2-1. Despite a couple of additional chances at either end, the teams went to the locker rooms minutes later with that same 2-1 score.
In the middle frame, the ice was more tilted in the Bernardians’ favor as they stretched the ice effectively and moved the puck quickly to avoid defensive sticks. Their offensive game plan was clearly to fire home run passes up ice as they have forwards who can turn and burn up the wings and create problems up ice. In this period they began to get into a rhythm and more of those passes connected for shots on goal as opposed to the missed opportunities in the first. The opening minutes were largely in their favor, but the Middies did begin to clamp down, limiting shots to outside of the house once we got to the middle of the period. Neither team was able to solve the opposing goalies in this frame and based on the more staunch neutral zone play we assumed that we would see the same 2-1 score on the board at the end of 30 minutes of play…but we were mistaken. With under five minutes to go, the Bernardians would find the equalizer with one of the prettier passing plays of the night. A tic-tac-goal play from junior Evan Walker to junior captain Matthew Sylvia led to a back door feed for sophomore Will Canada to make it 2-2. The St. Bernard’s players were decidedly fired up after the tying goal but Dracut/Tyngsboro made a strong rebuke and pushed back hard to untie the score with 59 seconds left in the period. A penalty was assessed to St. Bernards and an initial shot by senior forward Brendan Modeski was tipped home by freshman Jake Vigeant to make it 3-2 in favor of the Middies. This would be our score after two.
In the final period, Dracut/Tyngboro saw a chance to go in for the kill and put this one to bed early as they tacked on another goal 49 seconds in. A three-on-one rush developed quickly and it was once again Modeski who found an open senior assistant captain Chad Vigeant and he wired it top shelf to make it 4-2 Middies. Following this goal it seemed to us like the wind left the sails on the St. Bernards bench, but there was still plenty of game left to play. They continued to embrace the stretch forward and did create a couple of Grade A looks off the rush but they would not find the back of the net again in this one, thanks to DT freshman Grayson Blakley. They would call their timeout with 2:13 to go, but the final minutes were largely academic at that point. Dracut/Tyngsboro emptied the tank and got their 17th win to enter the playoffs on a four-game winning streak.
Three Stars:
- F Brendan Modeski, Dracut/Tyngsboro
- G Grayson Blakley, Dracut/Tyngsboro
- F Pheonix Fortier, St. Bernards