Stoneham, MA – We arrived just in time for puck drop as the 13 seed in the D3 North bracket Swampscott and 4-seed Essex Tech got ready to drop the puck for a 6pm tilt at Stoneham Arena. The rink was surprisingly quiet for a playoff game to start but the Big Blue students showed up loud and proud as the first period wore on and they were tossing out barbs all game long, they did not let up on the opposing team’s players once.
It was a slow developing first period as both teams were trying to make plays but were a bit overeager and there were a number of missed passes, flubbed shots and slips on the breakout. What we immediately noticed was the size and strength of Essex Tech and the quick/shifty play of Swampscott. Two opposing styles of play: we shall see which prevails in period two.
The second period featured a lot of the same in terms of the play we saw in the first but Swampscott started to pick up the physical play and as a result, a lot of the action was in their offensive end. There were a few crease crashing plays that were quality scoring chances but it took until 11 minutes in to notch the first goal of the game. It was a nice individual play by senior attacker Drew Olivieri who got below the circles and passed into the slot to freshman forward Ronan Locke, who in turn shot it to the left post where Olivieri was waiting for the easy tap-in: 1-0 Big Blue. There were a couple of additional chances at the buzzer as Swampscott continued zipping around but the horn sounded to send both teams to the room. One period left for Essex to save their season…
In the third, Essex made a push and stepped up their pace of play. Their outlets were quicker and they were getting in hard on the forecheck in order to win pucks in their offensive zone. Swampscott’s blue line was the difference in the period: they had a lot of clean retrievals and forced Essex to regroup numerous times. In the final five minutes Essex gave it one last push but with three minutes to go Olivieri put the game away for good, taking a nice pass (again from Locke) and went in unimpeded on a partial breakaway and stashed it stick side to make it 2-0. The Hawks would pull their goalie two minutes later, but to no avail: Swampscott upsets Essex Tech.
Three Stars:
- G Jack Russo, Swampscott (SO)
- F Drew Olivieri, Swampscott (2 G)
- F Ronan Locke, Swampscott (2 A)
TTPA: D Jake Krajeski, Essex Tech
NZ Notes:
This game did not at all take shape like a 4 vs 13 matchup. From the drop of the puck Swampscott owned the lion’s share of the possession and despite some opening jitters in the first period, they dominated stretches of this game because they won more races to the puck and flipped it to space past the Essex Tech D. We expected Essex Tech to use their size advantage more readily but they never really got it humming until the third period and they were already trailing by that point. Both teams loved dump and chase hockey which made this a speedy game (played in under an hour and a half) and it turned out that the Big Blue were more efficient in going to get it which is why they won.
As for notable players in this game: from Swampscott we like Olivieri’s ability to pick apart the Hawks with his vision and get to the net to give himself more scoring chances. The most fun player to watch had to be senior Conor Donovan who is small but he is quick, he’s feisty and he is looking to put the defense on it’s heels every time he gets the puck: excitement incarnate. Junior defenseman Liam Locke and senior defender Chris Barnes came up huge in this game. We lost count of the number of pucks Barnes ate in order to prevent SOG and Locke made retrievals and zone exits look easy, especially as the game wore on.
For Essex Tech, the best player on the ice was the big senior Jake Krajeski. The captain looked like he was around 6’1 and he prevented a number of chances because of his long reach and big frame. He was one of the better skaters on the Hawks roster and his edgework was solid for a player of his size: a nice under the radar player to keep an eye on. We liked the rock solid stay-at-home game of senior Nick Lennon, an assistant captain for the Hawks. He is big and strong and he was consistently making good reads on breakout plays. Not much got by him in his own end: he put the clamps down.
Game 2 Lowell vs Somerville
Stoneham, MA – For the second half of the nightcap we stuck around to see the Highlanders of Somerville take on the Red Raiders of Lowell in a tight 8 vs 9 matchup. It should also be noted that Lowell played a D2 schedule all season, but they were slotted into the D3 playoffs, so they are more than battle-tested this season and ready for any opponent. The fan sections for this game weren’t quite as boisterous but the pace of play of this game was far quicker than the early game. Both teams play up-tempo and were looking for quick transition opportunities. Somerville likes to dump and chase whereas Lowell looks to gain the blue line with possession and speed.
The first period was a great up and down frame with both sides trading chances at each end. Neither team grabbed control early but as the period wore on, Lowell had more possession and created better looks at the net. With three minutes to go senior forward Owen Goulette authored a nice centering feed to senior forward Matt Asselin who buried it with a quick snap: 1-0 Lowell. That appeared to be all for the period…until Brendan DeMarco weighed in. He went from coast-to-coast on a speed rush, slipped past a couple of defenders and made a really nice move to finish off the play with only four seconds left on the clock: 2-0 Lowell. After many of the scouts in attendance picked their jaws up off the floor, the buzzer sounded with the Red Raiders headed to the room with all the momentum.
In the second frame, the Highlanders had a decent number of chances, thanks to some early power play time. Ultimately, the plays the team was looking to make were the right ones, but the passes slightly missed the mark, the shot was gobbled up by the goalie or the player at the point would lose the puck trying to make a perfect play. Shortly after the early penalty expired, Lowell struck again. Four minutes in on a power play of their own, freshman Colin Pickett made a really nice pass from the left dot to the right post where Shawn Spring was waiting for the tap-in goal: 3-0 Lowell. After that marker, Somerville picked off a few passes and generated a few offensive chances, but Lowell was able to keep them away from the net, or poke check the puck off their sticks. The lead headed to the room was three at the break.
In the third period, again Somerville worked hard and made a number of quality plays which led to shots on goal…but none were able to seep through junior Jake Viera. The proverbial nail in the coffin was a nice break-in off the wing by Owen Goulette who fired a shot from just outside the circle to make it 4-0 Lowell. The next tally was purely academic as the Raiders were rolling at that point but defenseman Kyle Frechette broke the puck out of the zone and fed Goulette who in turn gave it to the freshman Pickett who walked across the cage and buried it up high: 5-0 was your final.
Three Stars:
- G Jake Viera, Lowell
- F Owen Goulette, Lowell
- F Colin Pickett, Lowell
TTPA D Joseph Carey, Somerville
NZ Notes:
This was a great game to watch because both teams emptied the tank and both teams play a full throttle style of offensive hockey. Neither team likes to stay in their defensive zone for long, they are always looking up ice for the next play. The score would indicate to those who weren’t there that the game was dominated by Lowell but that wasn’t the case. In the first period both teams were creating equal chances and the physicality of Somerville was proving difficult for Lowell as they got adjusted to the playoff pace. All told though, there was no answer to the Lowell’s team speed: it will be hard to find many teams that can skate with these players for a full 45 minutes.
For Lowell, we will say it again if we’ve said it 100 times: Brendan DeMarco is the real deal. You don’t find many 6’4 forwards who can fly the way he can. Prep teams need to be paying very close attention to his plans for next season, because he would be a great fit for a team that is looking for a zone breaker. Freshman Colin Pickett really stood out tonight. He’s been good in other outings we’ve watched this season, but he took his game to another level tonight by setting up scoring plays and showing a smooth finish at the end of the game. He’s a bit undersized now, but he could be a big contributor next season as he grows and gets stronger. We also like junior goalie Jake Viera who pitched the shutout tonight. He plays a really aggressive style of goaltender: he is a very good skater which enables him to win 1:1 races to the top of the dots in order to clear pucks.
For Somerville, they are a young team and they are well coached. They know exactly where to be and they play their system well. The biggest issue to date is that they are very young and made a few young mistakes tonight. Look out for them over the next two seasons as they will be really dangerous as the core gets older and wiser. Senior defender Joe Carey was a thick, strong defender tonight. He doesn’t have tremendous size but he threw a nice hip check late in this game and stood up a Lowell forward at the blue line: he was a wrecking ball. Sophomore forward Aidan O’Donovan was stepping in on D tonight and he hustled on every shift. He also made some nice bump passes and found streaking forwards on his backhand with ease. Nice game for him tonight. Despite the final score, sophomore goalie Jack Marujo has good size and active feet for a netminder. His reaction times are solid and he was feeling it late in this game, even though the scoreboard was not in his favor. He was calm, quiet and confident and we like his makeup, which should lead to more success down the road.
