Weston, MA – MassNZ made the drive out to Weston to see the Raiders of Dover-Sherborn take on the Middies of Dracut-Tyngsboro. The game was being played at the Rivers School rink and represented the Raiders’ final game of the regular season. The mood pregame was a bit subdued but the players on the ice were fired up and ready to go.
In the first period, it felt like both teams were looking to win the hit column early. Both were hard on the forecheck and finishing every hit along the boards and in open ice. We have a feeling there will be a lot of ice bags passed around after this one. Amidst the chaos, the Raiders won the possession battle and had the lion’s share of shots on net. They were effective at finding lanes or creating them to put quality shots on net. That would allow them to break through seven minutes in as a royal road shot by junior Brayden McKenna hit the bottom of the left post and bounced onto the stick of freshman Christos Rogaris who buried in past the prone goalie: 1-0 Raiders. The momentum was firmly on the DS-Weston side but Dracut-Tyngsboro began to chip away with some power up ice. Two minutes after the first goal, senior captain Colin Underwood busted through two defenders but was unable to get his shot off because he was hauled down on his way to the net: penalty shot awarded. He made a straight-on approach to senior goalie Griffin Sipp who stoned the attempt and on we played. That would be the Middies best look of the period, we went to the locker room with the score still 1-0.
In the middle frame, you could feel the animosity growing with each passing minute. There was plenty of jawing after the whistles and more than a couple of scrums with players losing their helmets. The period opened in the Raiders’ favor as the Middies were called for two concurrent infractions which gave DS-Weston 1:35 of power play time in a two-man advantage. They would not hesitate as senior defender Sawyer Garzone caught a pass at the top of the zone and fired a low shot through the wickets to make it 2-0 Raiders. This Raiders team continued to find ways to frustrate the Middies with their forecheck and their hard pinches to keep pucks in. There was one stretch late in the period where they kept the puck in the zone through a line change solely because of their quickness on the forecheck. As we mentioned earlier, Dracut-Tyngsboro was fed up with late goalie taps on whistles and finishing checks after at the whistle which led to retaliation penalties and more shorthanded time. It was clear that DS-Weston was playing their game but Dracut-Tyngsboro had more left in the tank for the third period, we anticipated a strong effort to get this game back on track.
In the final period, the Middies did indeed push back in the early minutes. They engaged more in the attacking end and kept the puck deep in the attacking zone for the first couple of shifts to set the tone. With that said, the Raiders were able to re-tilt the ice in their favor as the period wore on. It wouldn’t take long after they did to further pad their lead. Just six minutes in, a netfront scramble ensued in the Middies end and last touch belonged to junior forward Sam Hinckley to make it 3-0 Raiders. That third goal seemed to be a demoralizer as the remainder of the period seemed to favor DS-Weston. A minute and 10 seconds later they would add another as McKenna charged hard to the net off a faceoff and shoveled the puck home to make it 4-0. The Raiders weren’t done as they would add another just under a minute later, seizing on the momentum. At the left post senior Max Nilt was able to push it over to junior forward Hunter Hourihan buried in front to make it 5-0. To cap the evening there would be one more tally as Garzone hummed one in low from the point and it was tipped home by Hinckley for his second of the frame on the man advantage. 6-0 would be our final and from there the new MIAA rule would take effect given the six-goal lead as the rest of the third period elapsed with a running clock. The shutout in this game went to the senior Sipp who made 31 saves. DS-Weston finishes the regular season at 16-4-0 and await their seeding in the D4 Tournament.
Three Stars:
- G Griffin Sipp, DS-Weston
- F Sam Hinckley, DS-Weston
- F Brayden McKenna, DS-Weston
