Waltham battles past Belmont in OT
Waltham was rallying from behind all night, so it was only fitting that the Hawks got the game-winning goal in overtime.
Senior Andrew Miller was able to capitalize on a breakaway chance midway through the 4-on-4 overtime frame to lift fourth-seeded Waltham over No. 8 Belmont, 3-2, in the Division 1 North semifinals at Tsongas Center in Lowell last night.
“They definitely made a great effort in terms of sticking with it,” said Waltham coach John Maguire about his players battling back from a pair of one-goal deficits. “They didn’t panic.”
Miller came in hard in the neutral zone and skated in alone during a Belmont line change — putting it in the back of the net with 2:48 gone in the extra period.
Belmont (12-7-4) scored first as senior captain Connor Dacey netted one with just 16.7 left in the second period. Waltham (16-5-2) tied it up when Luc Dallaire scorched one, off assists from Shane Devlin and Miller.
Dacey got another for Belmont at the 9:07 mark of the third to make it 2-1, but the Hawks re-tied it less than two minutes later as Connor Blanchard scored off passes from Nic Dallaire and Brian Pescatore to make it 2-2.
Senior captain Kevin Dacey was brilliant for Belmont, posting 32 of his 46 saves in the first two periods, while Waltham senior captain Kyle Penton made 21 saves in the win.
It the other Div. 1 North semifinal at Tsongas, No. 7 Winchester needed just a single tally to upend No. 3 Newburyport, 1-0.
Sophomore Ryan McCarthy scored off assists from juniors Nolan Butler and Joe Lepore just 47 seconds into the first period, as the Sachems outshot the Clippers, 7-1, in the opening frame.
“It was early and it was quick,” said Winchester coach Bill Burns. “It was the first play out. We banged it in and went from there. Ryan did a great job. The pass was there and he put it home.”
Freshman Robert Di-Vincenzo made 12 saves in the shutout victory, but it was all about the defense in front of him that allowed few opportunities for the Clippers (134-6) all contest.
Winchester (15-7-2) will face Waltham in the sectional final on Wednesday night back at Tsongas.
James Kolar got Marshfield off running with an early goal, and the sixthseeded Rams (14-5-6) never looked back in defeating No. 10 Needham, 3-1, in a Div. 1 South semifinal at Gallo Arena in Bourne. Kevin Buckley made it a 2-0 contest midway through the second period, then Kolar assisted on Max Barum’s goal with 1:54 left to close out the scoring. Needham’s only goal came from Jack Kamke with 42 seconds left in the second . . . . Aidan Flynn capped off a three-goal spurt by tallying the winning goal
with 11:38 left as No.12 Braintree (11-6-6) rallied to defeat No. 8 Xaverian, 3-2. Trailing 2-0 after two, Shawn Leslie scored a shorthanded goal 24 seconds into the final period, then Dara Canavan tied the score two minutes later.
Joey Van Winkle scored the game-winner with 1:39 left and Matt Smith added an empty-net goal as No. 3 Plymouth South (18-3-2) defeated
second-seeded Canton, 5-3, in a Div.2 South semifinal. Jake Worrick, Sean Colbert and Dan Lincoln staked the Panthers to a 3-0 lead before the Bulldogs rallied as Chris Lavoie and John Hagan scored in the middle period, then Hagan tied the score at 3 with 1:39 left.