PLAY-IN Super 8 Live Blog

Stoneham, MA – We have arrived in Stoneham and nearly an hour before the game the stands are already getting jammed up. Both teams are getting warmed up and the fans are piling in. Just awaiting puck drop for this one…first on the docket will be 7 seeded Burlington vs 10 seeded Hingham.

Just before game time, the stands are completely jammed and people have taken all the railing spots. There is a palpable buzz in the building and we are ready to go!

In the first period, two minutes in, Hingham scores off a shot by defender Ronan Mulkerrin which hits Grady Harrington and goes in: 1-0 Harbormen. From then on the period was all Burlington: they generated a power play and really stole the momentum by creating chance after chance. There were a couple of shot blocks but even despite that the Red Devils had at least six scoring chances. Just a few minutes later the Red Devils would tie it up off a pass from Ryan O’Halloran to Cam Costa who swept home his own rebound to knot it at 1. A few minutes after that Hingham went on the power play and Tim Carroll cut to the middle and Will Ham tipped a pass to Terrence Concannon for the goal which made it 2-1, which would be the score after 1. Burlington outplayed Hingham in the period, but the Harbormen have the advantage where it counts: on the scoreboard.

In period two, Hingham owned the bulk of the play to start the period, holding the Red Devils without any shots for the first six minutes. But then a turnover changed the momentum with eight minutes to go as Burlington’s John Condon scooped up the puck, drove into the zone and fired a beauty of a backhand pass to Cam Costa who finished at the left post to tie this thing up with his second of the afternoon at 2-2. The Red Devils then started to ride the momentum wave thereafter. There was a lot of dump and chase play in the period but neither team was able to turn it into major scoring chances. The play started to even out after the tying goal and both goalies came up big at separate moments throughout the period. Great physicality here, not a lot of space to operate. On we go to the third to decide who moves on to play in the double-elimination tournament…

Right off the bat in the third period, Paul Forbes of Hingham appeared to have scored but the referees rule that Aidan Brazel slid into the Burlington goalie Joe Trabucco and knocked the net off before it crossed the line and on we went tied at two. Hingham also got a chance at a power play midway through the period but that opportunity also went by the boards. In what was the most glowing chance of the period John Condon delivered a nice pass to Jake Vozikis at the post for a tip play but Hingham sophomore Luke Merian kept it out. The action would remain back and forth as the period wound on but Hingham began to gather momentum with about five minutes left in the period, really challenging Trabucco. But that’s when Ryan O’Halloran entered the party: with 2:21 to go, coming off a Hingham icing, he won a faceoff and snuck in on net, dishing over to Jack Jay who snapped it home to make it 3-2 Red Devils. Hingham called timeout seconds later and pulled Merian for the extra skater and generated some chances but it was too little too late as Burlington advances to face BC High as the seven seed in the Super 8 and Hingham will be a top seed in the D1 South playoffs.

Three Stars

  1. F Cam Costa Burlington
  2. F John Condon, Burlington
  3. F Jack Jay, Burlington
    TTPA G Joe Trabucco Burlington

NZ Notes:

Big players make big plays in these playoff games and that’s exactly what Ryan O’Halloran did at the end of this one. He walked a Hingham player off the faceoff and zipped over a nice pass for the game-winner and that’s why he is a frontrunner for our Mr. Hockey Award for 2020. For Burlington, their D core was excellent, which includes Anthony Andriolo and Colin Browne who were both moving the puck and keeping tight gaps throughout this one. You also had defender Trevor Janis absolutely housing people and he played tight coverage as well. Offensively it’s hard to look past Cam Costa who was flying all afternoon and scored two here but perhaps the best player offensively was John Condon who made a couple of really pretty passing plays to set up Grade A scoring chances. Don’t also forget the contributions of Joe Trabucco who was a rock in net. He has great length, stayed square to his shots and made big timely saves in this one.

For Hingham, Paul Forbes was their top offensive weapon. He has good size and was a tough matchup: he played power-play minutes, played with pace and showed a quick release to boot. Then you have Aidan Brazel, the 6’2 freshman who came alive in this one. He is tricky to nail down, looks slick when he handles the puck and went strong to the net repeatedly. Forward Evan Corbett was solid as well: staying down low as the center to help his D on the breakout. On defense, you really notice Bobby Falvey: he takes ice and has heavy shot with a big body. In net was big 6’5 sophomore netminder Luke Merian who was excellent today and made a number of big saves to keep the game tied late. None of the goals scored were his fault: it was just a case of Burlington making nice plays to beat him.

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GAME 2: Framingham vs Reading

Stoneham, MA – After an exciting first game in the Super 8 play-in doubleheader we stuck around to watch the back half with the Flyers of Framingham matched up against that Rockets from Reading. Two more public school teams ready to battle it out for a chance to make the double-elimination tournament.

The first period started with Framingham taking control early as Reading adjusted in the first five minutes. But, it didn’t take long to break the seal in this one as halfway through the frame, Framingham’s Thomas Duane was able to tip home a low shot made by senior defenseman Jared Shimelman to make it 1-0 Flyers. Later in the frame Framingham generated a power play and were able to really sling it around, but it didn’t lead to additional tallies. With four minutes left Sean Barbara from Reading drew a penalty but goaltender Jake Handy got eyes on each shot to keep the score at 1-0. At the end of the period, Framingham drove the net on an odd-man rush and the shot went just over the crossbar as the buzzer sounded. On we go to the second where the Rockets will need to make a push.

Three minutes into the second period Reading drew another penalty off the breakout but were unable to capitalize which was then followed by calls on both teams to even out the play. Chances occurred at both ends until there were five minutes remaining and Shawn Golden tied the score coming right off the bench and taking a sharp stretch pass from Charlie Miele all the way home to make it 1-1. After that, Reading had a chance to generate more momentum on the power play but was unable to cash in which ended up hurting them a little later. It turns out that tie was shortlived as Framingham got it right back: Duane scored his second of the night by cleaning up a net-front loose puck and roofing it to make it 2-1 Flyers with three minutes to go. Just as time expired Reading had a great chance of their own by Miele that was fired on net but it just missed as the buzzer sounded. To the third we go with the Flyers up 2-1.

Roughly four minutes into the period, the Rockets were whistled for too many men. That power play came and went with no goals added on the scoreboard and the period ended up being a bit messy in terms of penalty calls with both teams getting abbreviated man advantages. The run of power plays continued up into the final seconds when Framingham’s Robbie Lopez fed Duane who was attempting to get the hat trick and senior goalie Dylan Emery stoned him in what has to be one of the best saves of the year. Two minutes after that, the Rockets pulled Emery and senior defenseman Matt Fiorenza found sophomore Jake Donovan who tipped home his shot from the point with 0.8 seconds left. A truly miraculous goal and we were headed to OT. The teams would play 8 minutes 4×4 to decide who moves on.

In the OT period neither team generated quality chances as both squads caught their breath from the last few moments of shock. As the teams got deeper into the extra period things began to open up and Sean Barbera had a breakaway chance off a turnover shut down by Framingham’s Jake Handy. But alas, nobody would score 4×4 so on we go to 8 minutes of 3×3.

In the 2nd OT period, Reading starts out with a chance by Fiorenza that gets shut down by Handy again and Reading continued to own the momentum which led to a power play with six minutes to go. But it turns out that Jake Handy had all the answers with 11 saves through the end of the power play for Reading. That unreal display led to heroics later in the 2OT as Will Trischitta scored the game winner with 54.7 seconds left.

Three Stars:

  1. G Jake Handy, Framingham
  2. F Will Trischitta, Framingham
  3. F Thomas Duane, Framingham
    TTPA F Hunter Balducci, Framingham

NZ Notes:

This was another instant classic of a game featuring lots of momentum swings and two absolutely excellent goaltending displays. Reading’s Dylan Emery and Framingham’s Jake Handy put up one of the best play-in game performances we have seen in years. In fact, it was the first play-in game to go into OT since Walpole and CM back in 2017. But either way, both netminders were at the top of their games and it’s a shame one of them had to lose because they gave it everything they had to keep their teams in it. For Framingham, Robbie Lopez was a monster all game long: the most consistent offensive threat the Flyers had. He showed a great stick, he was tough to defend and went to the dirty areas to win pucks. We also liked how active Hunter Balducci was in jumping on loose pucks. Similarly, on the back end, Jared Shimelman led by example with his awareness and crisp outlets while Ryan Watton showed his athleticism and playmaking ability getting it back up to the forwards. Leading scorer Will Trischitta was quiet for most of this game because he was a target of Reading’s defense, but he scored when his team needed him the most: big players make big-time plays, and he did tonight. For Reading, defenseman Matt Fiorenza showed his athleticism all game and he can really hammer it from the point. Senior defender Brandon Millerick was great in this game: used his long reach and hit to defend keeping tight gaps in the process. On the front lines Landyn Greatorex played with great pace all night and his hustle drew penalties to give the Rockets more chances. Ultimately the deciding factor tonight was that Reading was unable to capitalize on their power plays and that ended up becoming important later in the game.