Woburn, MA – Wednesday’s jam packed slate of games was kicked off today with The Battle of Winn Street, a first round Middlesex League playoff matchup between the Woburn Tanners and the Burlington Red Devils. The game was played across two 22:30 halves, and both sides came prepared for battle in this opening round tilt.
Right off the bat the action of this game opened up. Just 59 seconds into the first period, we had our first tally. Red Devils sophomore forward Koby Sloan picked up the puck near the Woburn blue line, carried it in untouched, and placed a sweet backhand shot into the back of the net, giving Burlington an early lead. From here, the action was back and forth with neither side gaining an edge. For the next 15 minutes, both teams exchanged blows and battled hard trying to gain the upper hand. Woburn was able to tie the game at 1-1 with 8:40 remaining in the first half. Tanners senior forward Jonathan Surrette found himself on his shooting side just in front of the faceoff dot, took his time and fired a nice wrister over the goaltender’s shoulder to knot the game up. Just moments later though, the Red Devils would regain their lead. A shot from the point was deflected in from by a screening Jack Jay, making the game 2-1. Burlington would get on the board once more before the end of the half. Just 90 seconds later, Burlington defenseman Colin Browne helped the Red Devils pad their lead going into the half. An impressive shot from the slot by the senior beat the Woburn goalie clean, allowing the Devils to take a two goal lead into halftime.
The second half began with the Tanners looking to get back into the game immediately. Woburn came out hot from the intermission, and had put up a strong effort in trying to thin the deficit they faced. After battling for a solid six minutes, the first goal of the half did find the back of the net, but in favor of Burlington. Senior forward Jack Jay picked off an attempted outlet pass along the boards, made a nice move towards the slot, and ripped a shot home that gave the Red Devils a 4-1 lead. That’s where the goal scoring would end. It was a clutch game for Burlington by their netminder Noah Kelleher. The senior stood on his head and made some fantastic saves to preserve the lead in that second half. On the back of his strong performance, the Red Devils held off the Tanners in a 4-1 victory, advancing to the semifinal round of the Middlesex League playoffs. Burlington will await their next opponent on Friday.
Three Stars:
- F Jack Jay, Burlington
- G Noah Kelleher, Burlington
- F Koby Sloan, Burlington
