Arlington boys outlast Hingham
WATERTOWN >> It took yet another Herculean effort down the stretch amid a defensive dogfight, but the Arlington boys hockey team can officially check off one of its three major ambitions from the preseason after Sunday afternoon.
Junior Kevin O’Connor ended a bruising marathon of trading blocked shots and stellar goalie play with No. 3 Hingham at John A. Ryan Arena, scoring with 24 seconds left in overtime to deliver the No. 4 Spy Ponders a 1-0 win and the Doherty division championship within the Ed Burns Coffee Pot Tournament. Senior goalie Jake Davies won finals MVP with a 26-save shutout, including three critical stops in overtime.
Arlington has needed overtime to beat all three opponents in the tournament named after the program’s legendary coach. But to just get the job done was a proud moment for head coach John Messuri.
“We definitely talked about (how) it’s kind of our tournament,” he said. “We’ve got to make a stand, and it ain’t easy making a stand against Hingham. … Three goals at the beginning of the year, this knocks off one of them. Two more to go.”
After 49 minutes of both teams snuffing out the majority of rebound opportunities, Arlington found a way to generate just one more at the most critical time.
Drew Fecteau and Ryan Gilbert beat the Hingham backcheck in a race to the puck at the right offensive faceoff circle. Fecteau split to skate across the crease, and Gilbert put a shot at the pads that floated to the outside of the post. Fecteau looked to be pushed into Hingham goalie Luke McLellan’s stick, knocking him off balance. O’Connor trailed, snagged the puck, and somehow squeezed it past the sitting McLellan (19 saves) just inside the post for the win.
It only made it that much sweeter that Messuri had just talked to him about what to do when a similar play opened up for him just a couple shifts prior.
“I took that (conversation) into overtime,” O’Connor said. “I got out there at the end and I just saw it, stopped on it and just put it home.”
Neither team could get many of those scoring chances throughout, with both defenses quickly defusing any potential threats. Hingham looked like it would break through at any moment in a power play to end the first period and within a strong burst to start the second, but Arlington was especially active in blocking shots — something everyone on the team puts a big emphasis on every game. Davies gobbled up all the rest.
The second part of the Ed Burns Tournament finals doubleheader proved to be a much different game, as No. 17 Tewksbury utilized an offensive explosion to secure the Brinn division title.
With three goals in the second period and two more in the final frame, the Redmen overpowered Winchester with a 6-1 win amid an incredibly chippy affair. Tyler Barnes scored twice en route to winning the finals MVP award, including the go-ahead goal just 19 seconds into the second period.
Matthew Cooke and Jeremy Insogna added a goal and assist each in Tewksbury’s 12th straight win, while Ben O’Keefe picked up 20 saves to hold off a few vicious responses from the Red and Black.
For as dominant as Tewksbury looked in the opening minutes, Winchester somehow broke up a bevy of dangerous scoring chances to keep it scoreless in the opening seven minutes. The Red and Black threatened plenty on their own, leaving little surprise to Danny Collins tying the game for Winchester after freshman Jackson Feudo had given the Redmen the lead.
But by skating three lines fast and hard, the Redmen quickly wore Winchester down.
Barnes’ first goal not only gave them the 2-1 lead, but also opened the floodgates. Brady Chapman tipped in Cooper Robillard’s shot from the point to make it 3-1 with 1:52 left in the second, and Cooke needed only 25 seconds to score for a 4-1 lead.
Frustration penalties started to fly, opening the door for Barnes’ second goal just three minutes into the third off a pass from Insogna. He buried the final goal five minutes later to slam the door shut.
“We play three lines, we try to go 1-2-3, 1-2-3,” Doherty said. “I think that wears teams down. … My goal was to try to wear them down. I feel very comfortable with putting any of our lines out there.”