St. Sebastian’s used two short handed goals in the second period and held on to beat Milton Academy on the road by a final score of 3-1.
The first period started slow with each team trying to feel each other out. St. Seb’s opened the scoring as Connor Joyce (Dedham, MA) finished a feed from Liam Devlin (Needham, MA – UNH) and Tommy Lyons (Westwood, MA – Harvard University).
The second period was more wide open and featured a number of man-advantages for each team. Milton evened the score a few minutes into the frame as freshman Jeffrey Lee (San Jose, CA) grabbed a give-a-way in the slot and fired the puck past the blocker of Luke Garrity (Hingham, MA). Milton looked to be swinging the momentum as it headed to the Power Play, however, Cam Collins (Raynham, MA) corralled a loose puck in the neutral zone and beat the defender wide before driving to the net and stuffing the puck past Erik Voloshin (Bedford, NH). Milton again went on the Power Play trailing 2-1 and again Seb’s would score a short-handed goal. This time, Liam Connors (Westborough, MA – BU) wheeled the net and ripped the puck over Voloshin’s glove.
The third was scoreless thanks to the play of the goalies. Milton didn’t seem to have the firepower to mount a charge late and the game ended 3-1.
For the home team, Voloshin will be expected to keep the Mustangs in games and steal a few here-and-there. He isn’t the biggest goalie, but is quick post-to-post and anticipates well. Quinton Fox (Fonthill, ON) played well and made some nice rushes through the neutral zone. He is a bigger body and can break down defenders one-on-one. On the back-end, Emmet Powell (Marcellus, NY) is an undersized defender with quick feet who likes to push the pace. Another bright spot was the freshman Lee (mentioned above). He is a compact forward who plays through contact and is slick with the puck. He is already playing top units minutes and will be a player to follow.
For the visitors, it was a solid team effort in the defensive end. There is a bunch of talent on the Arrows and several players turned in solid performances. Cam Collins and Joyce looked good up front. Two players that don’t get the publicity of some of their teammates, they were both all over the ice and made some nice plays below the dots to create scoring chances. Seb’s is fairly deep and rolls four lines that can push the pace. Freshman Jack Hughes (Westwood, MA – Northeastern) Timmy Delay (Hingham, MA – BC) and Will Elias (Weston, MA) all play big minutes and are transitioning well into the prep game. On the back-end, Jayden Struble (Cumberland, RI – Northeastern) is an athletic puck-mover that creates consistent offense from the back-end. If Seb’s is able round out some parts of its game they could be a tough-out down the stretch.
Three Stars of the Game:
- Connor Joyce, (1-0-1), St. Seb’s
- Cam Collins (1-0-1), St. Seb’s
- Jeff Lee (1-0-1), Milton
