#5 Dexter’s Slips by #4 St. Sebastian’s in Elite 8 Quarter Final
In the #4/#5 matchup in the Elite 8, St. Sebastian’s played host to Dexter School at Lane rink. Well over a half-hour before the game the rink was almost at capacity. The crowd would be three or four deep around the entire rink and was filled with two strong student sections. The atmosphere was loud and intense throughout and the game itself did not disappoint. Dexter held on for a hard-fought 3-2 win and will travel to Salisbury for the second straight year for a semi-final matchup matchup.
Dexter would strike first less than a minute into the game as John Farinacci (Chatham, NJ – Harvard) gathered a loose puck in the offensive zone and zipped a back-door feed to a streaking John Fusco (Westwood, MA), who buried the puck. The play settled down after the first minute and much of the play was in the neutral zone. Both goalies, Derek Mullahy (Scituate, MA – Harvard) and Luke Garrity (Duxbury, MA) faced some good chances the rest of the period but were up-to-the-task.
The second period started with some sustained pressure from Dexter. Seb’s ended up taking a penalty and Dexter capitalized to take a 2-0 lead. John Fusco picked up a loose puck in the top of the slot, walked patiently to his right and fired the puck across his body past Garrity to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Just a Dexter looked to be taking control for good, and again on a man-advantage, Liam Gorman (Arlington, MA – BU/Pitt) intercepted a bad turnover inside the offensive blueline. He hit a steaking Liam Connors (Westborough, MA – BU) who cut in alone on Mullahy and snapped the puck by him. The 2-1 lead was short-lived as Dexter capitalized less than a minute later on a bad turnover inside the defensive zone by Seb’s. Jack Dempsey (Natick, MA) picked-off a pass and broke in alone on the goalie, before he ripped a shot under the bar. The second frame would end with Dexter ahead 3-1.
Seb’s would not go quietly and struck in the opening minute of the third. Liam Devlin (Needham, MA – UNH) got in quickly on a forecheck, stole the puck and fed Tommy Lyons (Westwood, MA – Harvard) in the slot for a one-timer. That was as close as Seb’s would get, as Mullahy slammed the door. Seb’s had some good pressure at the end, but Dexter defended well and kept a lot of the pressure to the perimeter of the rink.
Three Stars
- John Fusco, Dexter 2-0-2
- Derek Mullahy, Dexter W
- Liam Gorman, St. Seb’s 0-1-1
NZ’s Take: A great New England prep school game played by two highly skilled teams. This game could have ended differently were it for a bounce here or there. There is a good amount of high-end skill players on each team and there was more than a few break-a-away chances/odd-man rushes for each team.
The difference in the game was Mullahy. While it wasn’t his best game, he was solid in the pipes and made some key saves when his team was scrambling. He is very quick post to post and doesn’t get rattled by traffic in front of him. For the visitors, John Fusco had a strong night. The junior defender was all over the ice. Aside from his two goals, he was a one-man breakout and on several occasions stretched the ice with accurate passes into the neutral zone. Doug Grimes (Brookline, MA) was noticeable up front. He has a good first step and separates from defenders easily. He had a few odd-man chances and was constantly pushing the pace. For Seb’s, Gorman, Connors and Lyons had good nights. They are counted on to drive the Arrow offense and were constantly around the puck. On the back-end Jayden Struble (Cumberland, RI – Northeastern) had a solid night. He was electric at times on the back-end and created a few chances. At times, however, he tries to do too much and also took a costly penalty late.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images