Foxboro, MA– On this Saturday night we went for a double-dip of South Shore games. While also covering Duxbury and Walpole we wanted to get eyes on the Foxboro Warriors and Franklin Panthers from Foxboro Sports Center. This was an intriguing matchup of D1 and D3 squads who aren’t separated by much geographically and it turns out they weren’t separated by much in this game either. The stands were jammed on both ends, a trend we have noticed consistently this year, with both teams having full cheering sections of family and friends.
The scoring opened up early in the first period with a goal from Foxboro senior captain and forward Ronnie MacLellan. The puck hit off a few people and floated through the air but somehow landed in the back of the net and gave Foxboro some life early on in the first. Franklin went to work after the Foxboro goal and controlled most of the play but Foxboro did have a couple of chances on the rush that were quality scoring chances. The first period would end with Foxboro up by one.
Franklin came out in the second hungry for a goal. They had a lot of offensive zone pressure, but Foxboro senior captain and goalie Espen Reager shut the door to keep his team in the lead. Like the first period, Foxboro still had some chances on the rush. Both teams had a couple of power plays but could not capitalize on them. Foxboro took a penalty late in the second with six seconds remaining which carried over into the third period.
The third period started with some good chances for Franklin, but again the Foxboro netminder preserved the lead and they killed the penalty. Franklin finally got the break they needed with 10 minutes left in the third period with a great individual effort from defenseman Tommy Tasker. He split the two Foxboro defensemen and beat Reager with a low shot that found its way over the pad. Franklin would have more chances to try and take the lead through the rest of the third stanza, but all were denied by Reager. Hence, the game would end in a 1-1 tie.
Three Stars:
- G Espen Reager, Foxboro
- D Tommy Tasker, Franklin
- F Dylan Marchand, Franklin
