North Billerica, MA – There was a ticket to the TD Garden on the line tonight and it all started with the D4 Semifinal at Chelmsford Forum. Competing to play on Garden ice was the 5th-seeded Winthrop Vikings and the 9th-seeded St. Bernard’s Bernardians. The pregame atmosphere was electric as the fans began to file in: both schools brought large cheering sections – all of whom jostled for parking pregame in a Hunger Games-style battle. We heard parking across the street was going for $10 a pop. Inside there was a tangible buzz and both teams hit the ice with a lot of juice. The fan sections were into it early and boisterous. Everybody was ready to go and so were we.
In the first period, the action was largely even as both teams were feeling out the pace and physicality of the game. As the action continued, Winthrop stepped up their physicality and began to own more of the possession and that led to more scoring chances. At the 4:20 mark they would open the scoring as an initial shot by sophomore Braedon Lounsbery found the stick of senior Bert Kline and the Vikings were up 1-0. They continued to own the possession battle and looked poised to take that lead into the locker room, but the Bernardians had other plans. In a beautiful individual effort, junior Matthew Sylvia rescued a puck in front of the net and carried down the left wing. He then dipped to the net and roofed one bar down to tie the score with three minutes left. It looked as though St Bernard’s had all the momentum, but Winthrop would respond 54 seconds later. A shot by junior Joe Pumphret was tipped to the end glass by fellow junior Charlie Ferrara and it deflected off the glass and into the net off a weird carom from above to make it 2-1 Winthrop and that would be our score after one.
In the second period, the momentum began to shift early as St. Bernard’s began to hit the gas pedal. Three minutes into the frame, a faceoff win by Sylvia was dished off to junior Evan Walker and then tipped past the netminder by sophomore Will Canada to tie us up at 2-2. Two minutes later, Winthrop fired one in on the power play but the referees conferred and the goal was taken off the board, due to what we would assume was goaltender interference. That decision would be a turning point in this game as it galvanized the Bernardians and they would untie the game minutes later as Sylvia put a quick shot on goal and Pheonix Fortier put home the rebound: 3-2 Bernardians. At the 13-minute mark they would pad their lead as freshman Adam Rendon put a shot on net and the rebound found Walker who waited for the goalie to go down and he buried to make it 4-2 St Bernard’s, which that was our score after two.
In the third period St Bernard’s was pushing the pace and owned most of the possession which made it tough for Winthrop to generate much offensively. The Vikings did have a size advantage down low and that’s how they created most of their Grade A looks. For the opening five minutes the same score held, that is until Winthrop would cut the lead to 4-3. It was Pumphret pouncing on a weak-side rebound to bring the deficit to one and we had a photo finish upcoming. St Bernard’s had other ideas as they would respond two minutes later as Fortier found junior Toby Beaulac open on the wing and he buried to make it 5-3 with five minutes to go. Following that goal, the game would get a bit chippy and both teams had to be separated after harsh words and late contact. Winthrop would call their timeout with 3:13 left, recognizing that desperate times call for desperate measures and Coach Dunbar pulled his goalie shortly after. The Vikings would create a couple of golden looks but senior goalie Chase Bergeron would kick them both out. With two minutes to go we saw something of a rarity. Fortier grabbed a puck in the neutral zone and powered his way to the cage, getting hauled down to prevent an empty netter. The referees immediately called it a goal as the shooter was interfered with in the process of his shot. That made it 6-3 Bernardians and the party was starting in their student section. There were a few more chippy penalties and turbulent faceoffs but cooler heads ultimately prevailed and the Bernardians moved on to TD Garden by a final of 6-3. They will face Littleton/Bromfield in the D4 State Finals at a time TBA.
Three Stars:
- F Matthew Sylvia, St Bernard’s
- F Pheonix Fortier, St Bernard’s
- F Joe Pumphret, Winthrop