Arlington, MA – The #11 ranked Malden Catholic Lancers traveled to the Ed Burns Arena to face off against the #6 seeded Arlington Spy Ponders. The two teams played each other a week ago in the regular season, with Arlington winning that contest 4-0. Thanks to the wonders of LiveBarn, we were able to catch this game on video.
Arlington picked up where they left off in the last meeting by coming out and controlling the play. They did a good job of establishing their forecheck, getting pucks deep and applying pressure to the MC defenseman. The Spy Ponder forwards were cycling well and getting pucks to the net. With a faceoff to the right of MC goalie Brendan Zinck, Jake Russell won a puck battle and got a shot to the net. There was a big rebound and it ended in on Brendan Hirsch’s stick and he buried it in the wide-open net giving Arlington the 1-0 lead. MC didn’t have much offense in the period but with 3:00 minutes left they would get a power play and make good on the opportunity. Freshman Nick Evans made a pass across the blue line to Robert Ghergurovich who put a puck on net from just inside the blue line and it had eyes beating Arlington goalie Jake Davies over his shoulder. The teams would be tied 1-1 after the first. Zinck’s play in net was the difference in the period, stopping 11 of 12 shots including a breakaway.
Malden Catholic was looking to gain some momentum in the second. They did a good job at the beginning of the period getting pucks deep and causing turnovers on their forecheck. That momentum, however, was short-lived as Arlington would start to impose their will. With 6:34 remaining in the period, Arlington would strike again. Brendan Flynn put a puck on net from the left point and once again Hirsch was there to bang home the rebound giving Arlington the 2-1 lead. MC would take a penalty a minute later putting Arlington on the power play and it would cost them. Reid Malatesta would find Michael Dunning at the top of the circle and he would beat Zinck high blocker side for the 3-1 lead. A few minutes later MC would get back on the board. Evans would collect a puck at the blue line and put what looked like a harmless puck to net that would beat Davies over his shoulder and cut the lead to 3-2. Arlington outshot MC 22-9 through two periods.
It didn’t take long for Arlington to put what would be the final dagger into MC. With 13:07 left in third, Arlington’s Hirsch hit Drew Fecteau wide in the neutral zone with a stretch pass. Fecteau would skate into the zone and find Russell going hard to the net and he would tip the puck in to give Arlington the 4-2 lead. Arlington made it tough for MC for the rest of the period. They dumped every puck deep and made MC have to go the whole length of the ice if they wanted a chance at a comeback. The Spy Ponders ran a trap and did a good job picking off passes and generating scoring chances. Still, Zinck stood tall again turning away the remaining 12 shots in the period. With two minutes left he would head to the bench for an extra attacker. The Lancers managed a couple of shots but they ultimately fell short, bowing out of the tournament with a 4-2 loss.
The Spy Ponders will now travel to Hingham to face the Harbormen in the Elite 8: date and time still TBD.
Three Stars:
- F Brendan Hirsch, Arlington
- F Jake Russell, Arlington
- G Brendan Zinck. Malden Catholic
