Broncos sweep Eagles, earn matchup with No. 1 seed La Salle
BURRILLVILLE – Two weeks ago the Burrillville hockey team's season looked to be over. Two weeks later, the Broncos are in the state semifinals for just the second time in the last two decades.
Riding a hot goaltender, senior Dylan Nault, the Broncos won their final two games of the regular season to shoot all the way up to the No. 5 seed.
After Nault was superb in Game 1 of the No. 5 Broncos' Division I quarterfinal series with No. 4 Barrington, the senior was even better Saturday night.
Nault made 25 saves, while freshman forward Jack Farrell netted a pair of goals to lead the Broncos to a 4-2 victory before a rowdy crowd at Levy Rink Saturday night.
It was the Broncos' fourth straight victory since a 10-2 loss to Mount St. Charles.
“Huge win for the kids,” Burrillville coach David Farrell said. “When you have a hot goalie – and we were on the other end of this last year against Smithfield – we have the guy who is playing real well. I'm so happy for Dylan because not only is he a great kid, but he works his butt off. He's the first guy on the ice, even when he wasn't the starting goalie in my first year here. It couldn't come at a better time for him to play like this.”
“This is my last year of high school hockey, I'm just trying to have fun,” said. “The last two games against Barrington I don't want to give myself too much credit, but there were times I got lucky. The shot a lot of pucks right into me. I'll take some credit or no credit, but I don't want all the credit because I'm not a jerk. The goalie reflects the team – if the team is playing amazing, the goalie will, too.”
Burrillville's reward for vanquishing the talented Eagles in two games is a date with La Salle in the semifinals starting Friday night at Smithfield Municipal Rink. The series shifts to Levy Rink Saturday night at 7 o'clock. The Broncos are the only team in New England to beat the Rams this season when they earned a 6-3 victory two Fridays ago.
The Broncos never trailed in the series because just 56 seconds into the first period Alex Carlow fed Blake Hopkins, who beat Stephen Amaral with a tight-angle shot from the left circle.
Barrington controlled long stretches of the opening period, but the next goal came from Burrillville when Mitchell Farrell fed Jack Farrell for a goal at 9:27.
“I thought we had a steady effort, but it was sloppy at times,” David Farrell said.
“It was one of those games that was kind of like the other night, it was a muck-fest. The game takes on a feel where of your goalie is playing that good, you never really panic. We leaned on him so much and he played so well that it allowed us to play free.”
Nault made a number of impressive saves to stop Matthew Bates, Jacob Andreozzi and Matt Gannone from scoring in the second period. Barrington was still in the game in the third period, but Ryan Boutiette tipped in a Ben Andersen shot at 7:43 to increase the lead to three.
Alex Carlow played a stretch pass to Jack Farrell at 9:12 and the freshman scored on a short-handed breakaway to put the game away.
Bates scored a goal – and was subsequently given a game misconduct for his gesture toward the Burrillville fans – at 13:41 to break up the shutout. Matt Gannon scored with one second left.
“It's all about the pre-game routine for me, if it's messed up in the slightest bit it throws me off, - I'm mental like that,” Nault said. “As long as everything goes according to plan and I have a chance to focus, I'm ready to go.”
Mello
Barrington 0 0 2 – 2
Burrillville 2 0 2 – 4
First period – BU, Blake Hopkins (Alex
BU, Jack Farrell ( Mitchell Farrell), 9:27. Second period – No scoring.
Third period – BU, Ryan Boutiette ( Ben Andersen), 7:43: BU, Jack Farrell ( Carlow), sh, 9:12; BA, Matthew Bates ( unassisted), 13:41; BA, Matt Gannone (Josh LeBlanc),
Saves – BA, StephenAmaral
Nault ( 25 saves).
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BU,
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Dylan