Canton, MA – Neutral Zone was in attendance both in-person and virtually to watch a Catholic Conference matchup between BC High and Xaverian at the Canton Ice House on Wednesday night. The Catholic Conference is playing a league-only schedule this year comprised of 10 games (home and home versus each team). The games are broken into two 22.5 minute halves. The game was a fast-paced physical contest which wasn’t decided well into the second half. BC High used three unanswered goals to pull away with a hard fought 5-2 road win. BCH opened the scoring after putting sustained pressure on the Hawks goalie. Ryan Flaherty (Milton, MA) took a centering feed from behind the net and snapped the puck home. Xaverian would tie the game a few minutes later when Max Lockwood (Bridgewater, MA) tipped a bad angle shot from Jack Silva (Bridgewater, MA) past Andrew Webb (Hingham, MA). The home team would gain the lead a few minuets later when Silva threaded a shot from the point on net. The rebound was grabbed by Lockwood who slipped a backhander into the back of the net. Before the end of the first frame, BCH would tie the game as Jackie Murphy (Dorchester, MA) batted down a shot from the point, corralled the rebound and flipped it past Kyle Harvey (Needham, MA).
BCH took control in the second half and was able to skate away with the win. The first of three unanswered goals was scored when Aidan McDonnell (Dedham, MA) took a long stretch pass from Nick Martin (Milton, MA), cut in on a breakaway and snapped the puck by the goalie. Flaherty scored his second of the game on the power play, when he grabbed a deflected puck and one-timed it into the net back-door. Brendan Burke (Dorchester, MA) finished the scoring on a 2-2 rush when he flipped the puck on net. The puck jumped over the goalie and into the back of the net.
BCH gets back to work on Sunday versus St. John’s of Shrewsbury, while Xaverian travels to St. John’s Prep on Saturday.
Three Stars:
- F Ryan Flaherty, BCH
- F Max Lockwood, Xaverian
- F James Marshall, BCH
NZ Notes
The game was tightly contested for much of the night. Xaverian used its size and physicality to sustain pressure in the BCH zone for long stretches. However, most of their chances were from the perimeter of the rink. BCH was able to capitalize on its chances and took advantage of some defensive zone breakdowns by the Hawks.
For the visiting team, Ryan Flaherty drives the offense from the middle of the ice. He is long and balanced. He finds soft spots on the ice and jumps quickly on loose pucks. On both of his goals he was able to slip into spots just before the puck got to him. He plays with an edge and isn’t afraid to mix-it-up physically. Paul Terry (Arlington, MA) and Nick Martin were strong on the back-end. They both control the play in the defensive zone and limit pressure to the perimeter of the rink. Both players like to look up the ice to start the offense and will take open ice when it is given to them. Xaverian was forced into bad angle shots and limited rebound chances when Terry and Marshall were on the ice.
For the home team, Shane Heron (Medfield, MA) was solid on the back-end. He made several nice, controlled reads that got the puck out his end. He retrieves pucks well and turns them up the ice away from the offensive forecheck. Nolan Dion (Marshfield, MA) was also a bright spot on the back-end. He handled pucks well at both blue lines and did a good job getting pucks through to the net. He made some nice reads through the middle of the ice and defended well in transition. Jack Silva was around the puck most of the night and used his body well to create space. He created chances that led to both of the Xaverian goals. Max Lockwood got to the net and wasn’t afraid to battle in front. He got in the shooting lanes and used a quick stick to jump on rebounds. He played hard each shift and was consistent in both halves.
