Haverhill, MA – February 22 marked the opening night of the MIAA State Tournament so of course MassNZ was going to be in the house! Just before the blizzard descended on the State of Massachusetts we were at Haverhill Veterans Memorial Rink to check out the hometown 31-seed Haverhill Hillies hosting the 34th-seed the Southeastern Bristol/Plymouth Hawks. Tonight’s game was one of the first matchups to be played this week as the playoffs get underway to determine who will be skating at TD Garden in March. This more immediate preliminary match would determine who is headed to the Cape to play 2nd seeded Nauset in the First Round. The parking lot was full pregame as the local crowd turned out well and the students were boisterous 20 minutes before puck drop. Once the lineups were announced and the anthem played we were ready for our first elimination game of the year.
In the first period both teams took a couple of minutes to settle in as the nerves were evident – neither team wanted to make a mistake so the play was a bit cautious and slow-moving. Haverhill’s possessions were station-to-station and the Hawks were aggressive on the forecheck. They were carrying the pace in the early going but Haverhill would rally after a few shifts and begin to even things up. Both teams were able to create quality looks on net but there were not a lot of second-chance opportunities. There were a few missed passes and wide shots, but most of the scoring chances came from traffic around the net. All told, neither team was able to put up any points on the board and we went to the room with the score still 0-0. It was anybody’s game.
In the second period, the puck possession and the momentum belonged mostly to Haverhill, who were more aggressive and put the best shots on net in the frame. Unlike the last period, there were a lot more infractions whistled on both sides, which meant this game would pivot on the play of the special teams units. It ultimately wouldn’t take long to break the scoreless tie. Just under three minutes into the period it was star junior Matt Costa who dragged a shot around three defenders and the rebound trickled out to fellow junior Bobby Caron who had a wide-open net to work with and he cashed in to give his team the lead. The student section went absolutely bonkers as the players skated over to celebrate with them behind the short glass and the ice remained tilted in the Hilies favor thereafter. Over the course of this period, Southeastern/Bristol-Plymouth found ways to create chances up ice but they were on the penalty kill for a big chunk of the frame. Still, their forecheck was tough and forced a couple of mistakes that led to dangerous shots. There weren’t many additional quality looks on either side after the penalties had subsided and we would go into the third period with the Hawks needing a goal to keep their season alive.
In the third period, the Hawks made their response emphatic on the open shift, it was great work off the faceoff to chip the puck into the attacking zone and then chasing it down by winning a race and battling for possession. That hard work came from junior forward Ryder Hughes who won the puck out of the corner and threw the puck into the middle and that loose puck in the crease was pounced on by sophomore forward Gavin McRae who would tie the score just 23 seconds in at 1-1. The Hawks were feeling the vibes at that point and riding high, using their open ice speed to put additional pressure on the Hillies, but to Haverhill’s credit they were able to limit a lot of chances from the house to prevent more Grade A looks. The ice would begin to tilt back to even as the period wore on and the teams continued to trade chances. There were not many odd-man rushes but instead singular players looking to slice through the neutral zone and gain the blue line with speed. Many of these rushes were defended well and the plays went back and forth in this fashion all period. Both teams had looks, but junior Jack Kelly for the Hawks and Anthony Pizzimenti for the Hillies stood on business, as the kids say. That meant we would head to 4-on-4 OT for eight minutes with a trip to Orleans on the line.
In overtime, it looked as though the game might be over in the opening seconds. A loose puck produced a partial breakaway for Haverhill’s Costa whose initial shot was turned back and the follow-up chance rolled behind Kelly yet somehow stayed out of the net: so on we played in the first minute. The crowd couldn’t believe that the puck didn’t go in, but on we went with the OT. Both teams were able to use the open ice to their advantage and there were nonstop chances at both ends with both teams looking to deliver the knockout blow. Haverhill had a couple of Grade A looks and then Southeastern/BP came right back with a couple of their own. We were getting down to the final minute and there were back-to-back faceoffs in the Haverhill offensive zone. The first one did not yield much but the second one was a nice setup as Costa won a draw back to junior Ethan Jalbert who fired a puck from the point that might have hit a Hawks stick on the way in and it snuck past Kelly. The Hillies sprinted to the student section to party with the boys on the half glass and one player even climbed it to fire up the crowd. That goal would be our game winner with 20 seconds left on the clock: 2-1 was the final and the Hillies will take the long drive down to Nauset on Wednesday to face the vaunted Warriors in Orleans.
Three Stars:
- D Ethan Jalbert, Haverhill
- F Matt Costa, Haverhill
- F Gavin McRae, Southeastern/BP