Burrillville trying to replicate effort in upset victory
BOYS HOCKEY – DIVISION I SEMIFINALS
BURRILLVILLE — There are plenty of great story lines when a hockey-mad public school goes up against one of the state’s three Catholic powerhouses in the Division I semifinals.
But it doesn’t matter that the Broncos are trying to reach the state final for the first time since 1976 or that Burrillville is the next team on the Rams’ ‘Revenge Tour’ after losing last season’s state final to rival Hendricken.
The only question going into Game 1 Friday night at 8:30 Smithfield Municipal Rink is simply this: Is Burrillville’s 6-3 victory over the Rams on Feb. 21 replicable over a three-game series or was it simply an aberration for a team that dominated the rest of New England for nearly three months?
“That win certainly gave us a little bit of confidence that we can play with these guys,” Burrillville senior captain Alex Carlow said prior to practice Wednesday at Levy Rink. “I think the big thing that day was we said to ourselves, ‘Screw it, we’re just going to play our game and not care what other teams think.’ We just want to hit them hard, skated hard, play hard and get pucks to the net.”
“We showed we can beat them, but it isn’t going to be easy,” Burrillville captain Blake Hopkins said. “They’re a really good team and they have a lot of really good players, but we believe in ourselves.”
From the La Salle perspective, Rams first-year coach Shawn Tingley was quick to give credit to Burrillville for coming to play when some of his younger players, who had never experienced a varsity loss in a La Salle sweater, simply didn’t play with the proper energy and execution. He also credited Burrillville senior goalie Dylan Nault, who has been the Broncos’ best player during their current four-game winning streak.
“They have a great goaltender and they’re well coached – Dave [Farrell] does a great job,” Tingley said Thursday. “They have guys who show up and they compete hard. I think that with their goaltending and their work ethic they can beat anybody in the state on any given night. From my perspective, they deserved to win that game because our kids didn’t show up and they didn’t compete.
“We got slapped in the face by Burrillville, 6-3, and it was a wakeup call for our sophomores who thought this was going to be easy.”
Burrillville is clearly playing its best hockey of the season headed into the best-of-three series. Following a 10-2 defeat to Mount St. Charles three weeks ago, the Broncos have reeled off victories over Prout, the Rams and twice against the Eagles to reach the state semifinals for the first time since 2011.
While he doesn’t deserve all the credit, Nault has been a big reason for the recent run. He’s allowed just eight goals in the last four games and three of those goals – one against La Salle and two Saturday night against Barrington – came after the game was already decided late in the third period.
Another big difference between the middle of the season and now is the ascension of freshman Jack Farrell to the top line alongside Carlow and Hopkins. Farrell had two goals and two assists in the win over the Rams and he also played well in the series against Barrington.
“Farrell has helped us a lot because he can really shoot the puck well,” Carlow said. “Me and Hopkins feed him the puck and he just rips them home. I’m surprised he shoots the puck so well and he’s also always ready for a rebound.”
Junior forward Ryan Boutiette led the Broncos with 11 goals and three assists during the regular season, while sophomore Cam DeSante had six goals. Farrell added five goals and six assists and sophomore Ben Andersen led the blue liners with four goals and three assists.
While the Broncos only had one double-digit goal scorer, the Rams had four players score at least 10 goals, led by senior Brayden Edwards and sophomore Austin Tasca, who each had 11. Tasca is the most talented forward in the state and will head to the 15U USA Hockey Nationals in April with the Cape Cod Whalers.
John Devine and sophomore Ethan Cordeiro each scored 10.
“Because we had two weeks off, we’ve focused on the little things like working on our forecheck and being responsible with the puck in the neutral zone,” Tingley said. “We also went over our penalty kill and power plays. We’re not taking Burrillville for granted, they’re a good team.”
Of course, “the heartbeat” of the Rams is senior defenseman Zenas Kennedy, who finished the regular season with seven goals and 17 assists. The All-Stater scored a goal in the loss to the Broncos and will likely be on the ice every other shift. In his first season in net, goalie Joseph Iannuccilli was named first-team all-division after recorded a .921 save percentage and a 1.87 GAA.
The Rams, who won the first meeting 5-0 on Jan. 17, trek up to Levy Rink Saturday night at 7 o’clock for Game 2. If a third game is necessary, it will be played Monday night back in Smithfield.
“I think the last game matters a lot because we have a recent look at them,” said Farrell, who played for both the Broncos and Rams during his scholastic career. “We have a feel for their speed and their personnel. We have a road map for what victory could look like, but it will be different on Friday. We’re going to have to play better than we did two weeks ago because they’re going to play better.
“We worked hard, but I just watched the film and they had so many chances in the slot. We have to defend the slot area against them because they are so good at getting the puck in the slot. That’s where all the goals are scored.”