Woburn, MA: The Belmont Marauders visited the Winchester High No Namers at O’Brien Rink in Woburn, MA. The Middlesex League does not allow anyone in the rink for games so NZ watched online. The feed was better online and we got a solid sense of the players. They played two 22 1/2 minute halves.
The game was even from the puck drop as both teams had chances. Colin Van Stry dipped and ripped a puck on the net but Belmont goalie Ryan Griffin was up to the task. Winchester’s Rob Divencenzo made a nice stop on Belmont sniper Ben Fici in the center slot. Neither team took a penalty and the shots were 8-8. The half ended 0-0 as quality chances were hard to come by.
The second period the shots were even at 13-13 and again, play was up and down. Neither team seemed to be able to create on the rush/transition. Finally 3:19 in, junior assistant captain Matty Rowan was at the net front and slammed a loose puck home into an open net. Ryan Griffin secured the shutout on a great save of a wrap around chance by Winchester’s Jack Riley The score would stand until Cam Fici scored an empty net goal with 4.1 seconds left. Final score 2-0 Marauders win on the road.
One interesting aspect of this game was that there were several NE Prep players who have returned home to play for their local high school. The MIAA is one of the few leagues playing games in the Commonwealth.
Three Stars
First: Ryan Griffin (Belmont)
Second: Matty Rowan (Belmont)
Third: Thomas Grace (Belmont)
See our scout’s evalations of 12 players below:
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images
