Tewksbury, MA – In the season debut for both teams: Austin Prep and Archbishop Williams got the season kicked off at Breakaway Ice Center in Tewksbury on Saturday night. It was a warm night outside which led to a few more bouncing pucks than normal and a bit of a slow start to this one.
In the first period each team was trying to get back into the flow of Mass HS hockey and there were a few extra shots that missed the net, errant passes past outreached sticks and puck fumbles in the neutral zone. All told though, both teams had chances at the netfront: the Archies had a good breakaway chance thwarted by the Austin Prep defense and AP had a netfront shovel denied by sophomore goalie Nic Buccella. we went 15 minutes without seeing a puck hit the back of the net.
In the second frame, the action unfolded rapidly. Seven minutes in, a turnover in the slot lead to a quick release, top shelf goal by 8th grader Matthew Conte (Andover, MA) to give AP a 1-0. They would pad their lead to 2-0 one minute later as defender Matthew Chatelle (Stoneham, MA) jumped in on the rush and delivered a nice centering feed for freshman forward Drew Thibodeau (Danvers, MA). From there, Archbishop Williams simply took over. First, a point shot with five minutes to go by forward (playing defense) and captain John Riley hit a leg in front to cut the AP lead in half. Next, they tied the score off a nice diving pass by forward Christian Koylion which sent forward Tommy Page in alone on the breakaway: 2-2 was the score with four minutes to go. Only forty seconds later Archbishop Williams took the lead as forward James O’Toole dished the puck to D captain Alec Umbro who fired one home from the point: 3-2 Archies. And then came the play of the night as Umbro fired a seed up ice from his own goal line to send forward Conor Kelly in all alone: 4-2 Archies was the score after two periods.
That brought us to the final stanza. Austin Prep came out of the room with a purpose and only four minutes in they struck. Another 8th grader, forward Ty Wood (Gloucester, MA) broke down the wing and centered freshman attacker Drew Thibodeau who walked across the crease and deposited a one-handed score past a sprawled Archies goaltender: 4-3 Archbishop Williams. For the next ten minutes AP continued to apply pressure but sophomore netminder Nic Buccella was equal to the task. With just over two minutes to go the Archies put the game away when the junior Koylion dished a feed over the blue line to a streaking Conor Kelly who stashed the puck just over the goalie’s pad: 5-3. AP would not go away as they struck back 30 seconds later when junior forward Joey Thibodeau (Danvers, MA) tipped a puck home near the netfront to cut the lead to one: 5-4. AP pulled the goalie with a minute to go but was unable to net the equalizer and that was the final score.
Three Stars:
- F Conor Kelly – Archbishop Williams
- F Drew Thibodeau – Austin Prep
- D Alex Umbro – Archbishop Williams
NZ’s Take
As we mentioned in the writeup above, this was the first game of the season for both Austin Prep and Archbishop Williams and despite some early jitters, both teams settled into a nice rhythm. They each kept their heads up ice in the defensive zone and made smart short areas passes in the offensive zone. Austin Prep looks to have a nice blend of veteran leadership and young talent which will make their depth a challenge as the season moves along. Archbishop Williams did a great job of converting on their chances by creating turnovers with strong stickwork and sending in teammates on quick-strike breakaways.
For Austin Prep, the young guns made an early impact, namely 2005-born Matthew Conte – who has great size given his age – scored his first goal seven minutes in and hit the crossbar later in the game. He was constantly involved in the offense and found ways to bulldoze his way to the net. Freshman Drew Thibodeau was intriguing as well – he has great hands and nimble feet that allow him to sneak around bigger defenders. He scored his first two goals in this game as well. Senior Nolan Ricci was a threat all game long because of his ability to cut to the middle and maintain possession. Defenseman Aidan Elkins looks to have taken a step forward since last season: jumping up more into the offense while maintaining his penchant for physical play and good stickwork. Don’t sleep on freshman Jack Farrell as well: he may be bulky but he can crank it up when he needs some quick strides to move the puck up ice.
For Archbishop Williams, we were impressed by defenseman Alex Umbro who’s second period goal line pass up ice and the awareness to make it was quite impressive and elicited a few oohs and ahhs from the crowd. He looked fluid on the back end and did a nice job of skating the puck up ice keeping the offense rolling. It was interesting to see that junior forward John Riley was playing defense for most of this game and he played the role well here. His head was always up ice and he was looking towards the next pass from the neutral zone to keep the pressure on. Also worth noting was forward James O’Toole who has long strides, good size and nice athleticism. Captain Conor Kelly was the team’s most dangerous offensive player with two tallies, but he was smart around the net, using hesitation to get the goalie out of position.
