Boston, MA – Tonight featured a clash of the titans: two of the top teams in the state and two teams who have their eyes on the Super 8 field: the #1 ranked Eagles of BC High taking on the #2 ranked Flyers from Framingham HS. Each team is coming off a Holiday Tournament Championship with the Eagles sweeping the Frates Classic and Framingham winning the MHL Cup via the shootout. Even before the drop of the puck, this had the air of being a special tilt: the stands were jammed at UMass Boston and players from other top teams in the state, notably Braintree, Hingham, Archbishop Williams and even Thayer were in the stands to cheer on their friends and take a few notes should they run into each other down the road.
The first period was a battle going in both directions, BC High came out and put on some early pressure but Framingham weathered the storm, thanks to Jake Handy their senior goaltender. With just under seven minutes left senior captain Will Trischitta scored on a nice forehand-backhand move by firing it low stick side to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. After that, there was action at both ends with each team generating chances but the Flyers took that lead into the room.
The second period was mostly a special teams battle with penalties being called throughout. Numerous players were being double shifted which interrupted the flow of rolling all four lines on both sides. Initially, the power plays benefitted Framingham as they had a 5-on-3 opportunity but BC High was able to survive it and about five minutes later they were able to ride that momentum to their own goal on the power play. Senior Matt Keohane notched the tying goal with the assists coming from junior defensemen Josh Milso and John Logan which is how the frame ended: 1-1 after two.
In the third period, the intensity continued to build and both teams were again creating chances, battling hard. It came down to one final bounce of the puck on the power play about halfway through the frame. John Logan took a shot from the point that hit a shin in front and deflected right to a waiting Colin Norton: 2-1 BC High and that was the final score.
Three Stars:
- F Matt Keohane, BC High
- G Jake Handy, Framingham
- F Colin Norton, BC High
NZ’s Take
This was one of the better games we’ve seen all year: two of the top teams playing hard, creating chances and working to gain an edge. We had them ranked as #1 and #2 before the game was played based on our NZ Poll and the action certainly lived up to the hype. There was great pace throughout and it was even all the way down to the wire, despite the final score. The atmosphere was great too with all of the other high schools in attendance to watch their friends and potential future opponents.
For Framingham, we liked junior defender Thomas Chase: he was poised, got shots through traffic and kept pucks in the zone. He was paired with Jared Shmelman for most of the third period and they seemingly never came off the ice. It was hard to miss the contributions of senior goaltender Jake Handy as well – he is one of the best in the state and he is going to keep the Flyers close in a lot of tight games down the stretch. Captain Will Trischitta was the team’s best forward tonight: he was smart, poised and created space for himself. Prep teams should be keeping an eye on him next year as a PG candidate. Thomas Duane is a big, strong winger for a sophomore – he made a physical impact on this game as well.
For BC High, Matt Keohane was ultra-competitive all game long, he has a great shot and good release and his line did a great job shutting down Framingham’s top line. Brian Bulger is just coming off an injury and getting back into the swing of things but he played a solid north-south game and was noticeable here. Hard not to like what John Logan and Michael Dragon brought in this game as D partners. They were calm, cool and collected and never let Framingham establish the forecheck. Additionally, Colin Norton seemed to get better as the game went on and made some smart plays and Aidan Carey made some big blocks to close out the victory for the Eagles.
