Brookline, MA-It was difficult to find a parking place or spot along the glass to watch this early season match-up. Cushing and Dexter feature two of the deepest rosters in prep hockey, but to no one’s surprise that when it was all said and done that the big names had the biggest impact on the scoreboard.
As the home team Dexter came out looking to capitalize on Cushing’s bus legs and it certainly looked as if they would. Through the opening twelve minutes of the first period, Dexter forced Penguin turnovers at the bluelines which led to two separate three on one’s as well as multiple odd man rushes often led by Yale commit Jonathan Lanza. To Cushing’s credit, they weathered the storm by having athletic saves made by Cooper Rautenstrauch and structure in their defensive zone coverage. Cushing defenders Ryan Philbrick, Tyler Russo and Zach Rizzo also sacrificed their bodies by laying down to eat pucks like they had shot blocking bonuses. The first period ended 0-0.
The second period saw an icreased run and gun style that was very entertaining to watch. After a shift of trading odd man rushes Emerson Marshall connected with Ethan Gardula in the neutral zone. Gardula then drove through the dot lane drawing the Dexter defender to him before hitting Landan Resendes for a wide open back door one-timer, Cushing 1-0. The rest of the period featured special teams play and increased physicality, but no scoring.
The third period featured more power plays and grey area turnovers which led to frequent odd man rushes. Half way through the period Dexter evened the score on a perfectly executed power play passing sequence. Nate Porter started the play by drawing the Cushing strong side defenseman outside the dot lane. Once Porter saw him out of position he fired a perfect pass to Cullen Emery who was waiting along the extended goal line. Emery then hit Sean Keohane (box score below is incorrect) crashing the back door from the right point, 1-1. As the third wore on more penalties were called and “Grade A” scoring opportunities were turned away by Rautenstrauch and Dexter’s Paul Dalessio, but with a little more than three minutes remaining in the period Porter fired a quick release snap shot from the right hand corner that somehow squeaked through the five-hole, 2-1 Dexter. From that point on it was fire wagon hockey that saw crazy turnovers turn into glorious scoring opportunities, huge saves and post whistle dust ups. With Dexter leading into the final minute Cushing was buzzing and creating opportunities that failed to reach the net, but with thirty-seven seconds left there was a mad scramble in Dexter’s crease that saw Resendes hammer home his second of the game, 2-2.
Overtime was played 5 on 5 and although the fans hoped for a goal the game ended 2-2 without a shootout.
Three Stars
First Star: Landan Resendes (Cushing)
Second Star: Sean Keohane (Dexter)
Third Star: Nate Porter (Dexter)
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
