Tewksbury, MA – We made our way out to Breakaway Ice Center to catch the Round of 32 matchup between the Tewksbury Redmen and the Westboro Rangers on Thursday night. The Redmen came into this one as heavy favorites at 18-1-1 and ranked second in all of Division 2. Westborough entered at 8-11-1 and, although the underdog on paper, it’s playoff hockey – and the extended tournament has taught us that anything can happen. Breakaway Ice Center was packed to the gills with Redmen faithful and a large group of kids, all wearing Tewksbury jerseys, cheering on their hometown team. It’s hard to deny that Tewksbury is a true hockey town with a tight-knit community.
The first period started with both teams leaning into their strengths, and it looked like we might have a tighter game than expected. Westboro was completing stretch passes efficiently, generating scoring chances while Tewksbury was breaking the puck out cleanly and getting up ice with ease. Westboro went on the power play early and controlled possession with crisp passing, leading to quality shots from above the slot. After a missed pass forced the Rangers to regroup, defender Jake Cunha picked the pocket of a defender in the neutral zone, went in on a breakaway, and finished on his backhand to give the Redmen a 1-0 lead four minutes into the opening stanza. Westboro responded by controlling the remainder of the power play but couldn’t capitalize. After the kill, Tewksbury shut down the neutral zone and took away the stretch pass, heavily limiting the Rangers’ scoring opportunities. Cunha struck again, this time picking up the puck in his defensive zone and going coast to coast, protecting it on his backhand nearly the entire way before cutting to his forehand in the low slot and burying it to make it 2-0 late in the first. As Westboro tried to escape the period, senior Tyler Bourgea added insult to injury by weaving through multiple players in the neutral zone, toe-dragging the final defender, and tucking one home with under 90 seconds left. Westboro answered in the dying seconds when Teddy Stamuli hit senior captain Sawyer Kittredge with a no-look pass on a 2-on-1, and Kittredge went bar down, blocker side from inside the left circle, injecting immediate life into the Rangers. The first period ended 3-1 in favor of the Redmen.
The second period was completely dominated by Tewksbury from start to finish. Tewksbury’s senior Jake Batts opened the period with a tap-in goal off a beautiful setup from freshman Mason Hollien. Circling the net with possession, Hollien dished a behind-the-back, no-look pass just as he got behind the net, finding Batts crashing the strong-side post for an easy finish. Not long after, Bourgea absorbed two hits along the boards and fed Jason Shreenan crashing from above the circles. Shreenan quickly slid it backdoor to Cunha for another tap-in. The Redmen led 5-1 less than five minutes into the second period. Minutes later, they struck again when Ricky Pacheco dumped the puck in from the red line and it somehow snuck past the Rangers’ goalie, pushing the lead to 6-1 at the halfway point of the game. The rest of the period was controlled by Tewksbury, as they generated quality looks and peppered shots from all areas of the offensive zone. Westboro managed to get up ice with numbers a few times but couldn’t convert. Tewksbury added one more with a crisp tic-tac-toe finish by Shreenan to make it 7-1 and ensure running time in the third period.
The third period was brief and decisive thanks to running time, but it still contained some action. Cunha logged his fourth goal of the game on the power play, wiring a shot from the top of the left circle just a few minutes into the period. The Rangers responded when Kittredge took a hit along the boards, then floated a soft shot on net that found its way past the Redmen goalie to make it 8-2. Late in the third, Tewksbury kept its foot on the gas, and Bourgea buried one off a faceoff to push the lead to 9-2. The Redmen punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 after a commanding performance from start to finish. They will face North Attleboro on Sunday.
Three Stars:
- D Jake Cunha, Tewksbury
- F Tyler Bourgea, Tewksbury
- F Jason Shreehan, Tewksbury