Arlington Punches Ticket to Super 8 Final
Framingham, MA – Arlington scored two goals in the span of 74 seconds during the opening period, and made it stand up in a 2-1 win over Pope Francis from Loring Arena. The Spy Ponders carried to the play and had the better of the scoring chances during the first half of the game. Senior Brendan Jones opened the scoring after a nice feed from fellow classmate Anthony Messuri found the winger in the slot, where he made no mistake. Just over a minute later, senior blueliner Ryan Davies collected a goal mouth pass on the power play and made no mistake beating Ben Zaranek. Arlington headed to the locker room with a two-goal cushion.
The second started with more of the same as the Cardinals couldn’t gain any traction offensively. Freshmen Ryan Shaw had the best chance to beat Arlington’s Nathan Brennan on the power play, but the senior netminder extended his glove to keep the visitors off the board during the middle period. Pope Francis made their push to start the third by using their speed and creating quality chances. Brennan was brilliant again until Connor Cognac capitalized on an unforced icing and fired a shot from the slot to bring the Cardinals within a goal. Arlington flirted with disaster shortly after the goal when Messuri was whistled for hook. Brennan stood tall during the penalty kill and final ninety seconds of regulation to send the Spy Ponders to the Super 8 Final next weekend at the TD Garden. They will be off for eight days and await the winner of Pope Francis and SJP. Final: Arlington 2 Pope Francis 1
Three Stars:
1. G Nathan Brennan, Arlington
2. F Brendan Jones, Arlington
3. D Ryan Davies, Arlington
TTPA: F Jake Murphy, Arlington
Prep Lives Another Day, Wins 3-2 In OT
Framingham, MA – The nightcap did not disappoint as St John’s Prep squandered an early two-goal lead before closing the deal on defenseman Will Perry’s overtime tally, 3-2. The battle of the Eagles saw Prep grab the lead off a turnover in the first, thanks to Ned Malolepszy who beat freshman Tom Kiesewetter high blocker side for the 1-0 lead. BC High had the higher quality of chances before Prep sustained any pressure. Prep doubled their lead in the second on Malolepszy’s second of the game with the man advantage. BC High committed the offensive zone stick infraction that led to the quick strike by Malolepzsy.
Senior defenseman Michael Dragon showed his ability to activate from defense to offense when he collected a puck deep in the Prep zone and found a hole through SJP goalie Noah Dorsey-Sorofman to make it 2-1. BC High continued their push into the third, creating several opportunities before another offensive zone penalty was assessed, this time to Prep. It took 29 seconds before John Logan ripped a seeing-eye shot from the point to bring BC level at 2-2. Both teams traded chances in the final five before heading to overtime. Overtime was short-lived however as defenseman Will Perry was left unattended on the 4-on-4 and whistled a shot over the glove of a very good Kiesewetter, which ended BC High’s Super 8 dreams, 3-2. What a great atmosphere for both games! Final: SJP 3 BC High 2 OT
Three Stars:
1. F Ned Malolepszy, SJP
2. D Will Perry, SJP
3. D Michael Dragon, BC High
TTPA: G Noah Dorsey-Sorofman, SJP
