ARLINGTON, Mass. — As Hingham senior forward Brian Murray entered the Arlington zone, he threw the puck on net.
It made sense. To that point, the game was back and forth, with the margins for error extremely slim. Both teams' defenses were so stingy that high-danger chances were hard to come by.
Murray's shot bounced off an Arlington defender and lay in front of the Arlington net. That was when Hingham junior forward Brendan McCarthy beat his defender to the top of the crease and put it around Arlington goalie Chris Diplacido.
That came with just over 6 minutes left in the third period. It proved to be the game-winner, as Hingham took down Arlington, 2-1.
The Spy Ponders opened the scoring with less than a minute left in the first period. On the power play, senior forward Cam Petrillo's shot from the blue line had eyes, beating Hingham senior goalie James Whitmore up high.
Hingham, however, wasted no time responding. Once the second period started, senior forward Cam McKenna sniped one past Diplacido.
The Harbormen improved to 6-2-1 with the win, while Arlington fell to 6-3-0.
This was a battle between the two top public schools in the MIAA. Let's dive into some standouts and takeaways.
James Whitmore
Hingham, 2007, G, catches left, 5-11/170
Hometown: Hingham, Mass.Â
Whitmore had some highly athletic saves that kept Hingham in the game. Midway through the first period, Whitmore went post to post to deny Petrillo of a sure goal with a beautiful glove save. He dove across the crease to make a huge stop on Arlington senior forward Dylan Dinucci in the final minute of the second period. And when Arlington was down in the third period, the Spy Ponders pressed and had multiple chances on shots from outside and in tight, and Whitmore proved to be more than up to the task.
Chris Diplacido
Arlington, 2009, G, catches left
Hometown: Arlington, Mass.Â
Diplacido is typically the backup but got the nod for Sunday's matchup. Diplacido made some massive saves. Late in the second period, he denied Hingham junior forward Walter Dzavik on two chances before robbing McCarthy in tight. But Diplacido's biggest save by far was on a point-blank catch and release by Murray. The shot was labeled for the top corner, but Diplacido adjusted his positioning and denied it with his blocker.
READ MORE: 7 standouts from St. John's Shrewsbury's win over St. John's Prep
Walter Dzavik
Hingham, 1/22/2009, F, left shot, 6-0/155
Hometown: Hingham, Mass.Â
Dzavik was the best skater in the game. His skating, skill and patience with pucks allowed him to drive play and navigate the offensive zone. On McKenna's goal, it was Dzavik who got the zone entry that led to the tally. And on the aforementioned save by Diplacido on Murray, Dzavik was the one who carried the puck around the offensive zone, drew a defender to him and noticed the passing lane open to Murray streaking into the slot. Dzavik is one of the top MIAA players I've seen this winter.
Nick Smith
Hingham, 2008, D, right shot, 5-9/165
Hometown: Hingham, Mass.Â
Smith was one of the top reasons Hingham left with a win because of two plays he made while killing a late-game penalty. The first was getting down and blocking a shot from Arlington senior forward Nolan Russell. From my angle, the net looked open, but Smith blocked it. Moments later, he read a pass from Petrillo to Russell across the zone perfectly and intercepted it. Smith also had very good, calm puck retrievals and breakouts.
Colman Donohue
Hingham, 2007, D, left shot, 6-1/167
Hometown: Hingham, Mass.Â
Donohue's aggressiveness came up big for the Harbormen. He was eager to step up on Arlington in the neutral zone with his good stick and showed no hesitation in defending his own blue line. He also retrieved pucks well and either made smart passes on breakouts or used his speed to get out of the zone himself.
Nolan Russell
Arlington, 6/12/2007, F, left shot, 5-9/165
Hometown: Arlington, Mass.Â
Russell was Arlington's main driver of offense. His speed and skill helped him get up ice quickly and put defenders on their heels. One of Russell's best plays was when he took the puck to the outside and got tripped up, but got his stick on the puck as he was falling and hit Petrillo across the zone for the scoring chance (that Whitmore robbed). Arlington head coach John Messuri had Russell taking draws late in the game, and he was nearly perfect, at one point winning the draw through the Hingham center and hitting a teammate in front for a chance.
Cam Petrillo
Arlington, 10/28/2007, F, right shot, 6-2/192
Hometown: Arlington, Mass.Â
Petrillo's goal was off a great shot from the point, and the Arlington senior had numerous other chances throughout the game, with many of them set up by Russell. But Petrillo also set the tone with his physicality. He consistently finished hits and was hard on the forecheck.
READ MORE: St. John’s Shrewsbury’s huge week shakes up latest boys MIAA rankings
Takeaways...
- It was Petrillo who finished a hard hit on McKenna that resulted in the Hingham star having to be helped off the ice, needing his right arm to be stabilized by the trainer. Arlington actually kept that physicality going over the next two shifts, but it was Hingham who scored the next goal, which ended up being the winner. It's obvious, but McKenna going down would be a huge hit to Hingham. He's one of the best goal scorers in Massachusetts.
- Both teams made it difficult to get to high-danger areas, but Hingham's defense packed it in especially well and, for the most part, its forwards got back well to break up Arlington rush chances.
- Here's an unheralded play I liked. On Petrillo's goal, Arlington senior defenseman Evan Sparks was getting the puck at the point. Hingham's penalty kill was aggressive on puck-carriers all night, so when Sparks got the puck high in the zone, it could've easily been poke-checked away from him — and looked like it was about to be. But the senior defenseman had the awareness to pass it right back to Petrillo, who scored.
- So, who is the better team? The Harbormen will get the edge in the rankings because they won, but it was a pretty even game. Both teams had their chances to score, and both teams made life difficult for the other. A seven-game series between these teams would undoubtedly need a seventh game.
