SOUTHBORO, Mass. — There's no doubt about it: Tabor is for real. The Seawolves proved that on Saturday, going into St. Mark's and taking down the No. 2 Lions, 5-3.
And it all started with a shift from No. 7 Tabor junior forward Liam Kailher (Duxbury, Mass.) early in the second period.
St. Mark's was up 2-0 at that point on goals from Evan Nee (Arlington, Mass.) via a breakaway and Will Manchuso (Concord, Mass.) on a power play snipe from out high. It took the Seawolves until the 2:23 mark of the first period to land their first shot on net.
But Kailher got his team back into it in one shift. It started when senior forward Leo Kavey (Wayland, Mass.) got a stick on a St. Mark's pass high in the defensive zone. The puck skittered down the ice, and Kavey won the race for it. Kailher streaked to the net and tipped in the pass over St. Mark's goalie Aaron Alves-Thomas (Uxbridge, Mass.), cutting the lead in half.
Fifty-three seconds later, Kailher got the puck off the rush and sniped a shot past Alves-Thomas, tying the game, 2-2, and giving Tabor all the momentum.
St. Mark's retook the lead midway through the second period when Manchuso's shot deflected high off junior forward Cam MacPherson (Hopkinton, Mass.) and in. Tabor senior forward Colvin Callahan (Lexington, Mass.) tied the game on a snipe with 46.8 seconds left in the period.
That set things up nicely for Tabor sophomore John Shaughnessy (Medfield, Mass.) to find a rebound and knock it through Alves-Thomas' legs, giving the Seawolves their first lead of the game early in the third period.
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Head coach Gerry Dineen's team held on, getting an empty-net goal from senior defenseman Alec Dzavik with under 30 seconds to play.
The win improved Tabor to a staggering 9-2-0, while St. Mark's got its first loss of the season and fell to 10-1-0.
Let's dive into some standouts and takeaways.
Liam Kailher
Tabor, 9/25/2007, F, right shot, 5-10/160
Hometown: Duxbury, Mass.Â
It was one heck of a shift from Kailher, with his first goal showing off his hustle and awareness to read what Kavey would do, while the second was all about his nice shot. He also assisted on Shaughnessy's eventual winner. Kailher had good hands throughout the game, using them to get around defenders and gain space, often trying to get to the net. Late in the first period, he grabbed the puck from Nee at the point and got a breakaway that was stopped by Alves-Thomas.
Oliver Benoit
Tabor, 12/3/2007, D, left shot, 6-3/205
Hometown: Fredericton, New BrunswickÂ
Benoit stood out with the Cape Cod Whalers 18U team in the fall and looked to be in command of the game on Saturday. Defensively, he shut down rushes with his stick and made life hard on St. Mark's forwards trying to get to inside ice (more on that later). But he was also responsible and creative with pucks. He rushed the puck on several occasions and wasn't afraid to curl back and look for a better play.
Vinnie D'Urso
Tabor, 3/7/2008, G, catches left, 6-0/190
Hometown: Andover, Mass.Â
After Manchuso scored on a snipe from out high to make it 2-0, it looked like it might be a long day for D'Urso. But the junior netminder settled in nicely. His biggest save came on a Nee breakaway midway through the second when D'Urso stopped his five-hole attempt. Late in the third period, St. Mark's pressed hard and got chances from out high and a few from around the net. D'Urso showed good rebound control in limiting how many chances the Lions would get on a sequence.
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Owen Carter
Tabor, 5/22/2007, D, right shot, 5-11/175
Hometown: Warwick, R.I.Â
Carter consistently showed off his good skating when he was rushing pucks. Early in the first period, he had a handful of rushes, but got a bit more conservative as the game went on, given how fast St. Mark's is. His ability to get to space and move pucks was a huge help for Tabor on the breakout, and his shot from the point led to Shaughnessy's winner.
John Shaughnessy
Tabor, 3/12/2009, F, left shot, 5-11/180
Hometown: Medfield, Mass.Â
Shaughnessy's game-winning goal came from good awareness following the play and going to where the rebound kicked out to, as he backhanded it through Alves-Thomas' legs. But Shaughnessy also showed himself throughout the game as someone who could play with pace. Early in the first period, his hustle on the backcheck broke up a potential St. Mark's scoring chance off the rush. That speed showed itself on the forecheck, too, when he got on top of defenders.
Evan Nee
St. Mark's, 8/12/2007, F, left shot, 5-8/160
Hometown: Arlington, Mass.Â
Nee's speed consistently put him in scoring positions. He had two breakaways, getting behind the defense both times and scoring once on a nice finish. That speed also led to him getting a 2-on-1 shorthanded with sophomore forward Keith Olympia (Sudbury, Mass.), who just missed the net on a one-timer. Nee consistently drove play, especially late, getting zone entries and taking the puck to the outside where there was space.
Will Manchuso
St. Mark's, 2/5/2008, F, left shot, 6-0/175
Hometown: Stow, Mass.Â
Manchuso finished the game with two points. His goal was a snipe from out near the blue line, beating D'Urso high. His assist on MacPherson's goal was a nice shot that bounced off the Hopkinton, Mass., native and in. So Manchuso clearly impacted the game. But there were times when I thought he was a bit passive off the rush with the puck, dishing it off to teammates instead of taking it himself. When Manchuso was on the ice, however, St. Mark's was often in the offensive zone.
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Takeaways...
- Aside from Kailher's two-goal shift in the second period, the other big story for Tabor was the penalty kill. The Seawolves took three penalties with under 10 minutes to play, and St. Mark's didn't score on any of them. St. Mark's head coach Carl Corazzini even took a timeout before going on the power play at the 3:19 mark, and the Lions still couldn't convert. Tabor was outstanding at keeping St. Mark's to the outside and getting sticks in passing lanes for cross-zone dishes. Dineen's team clogged the middle and collapsed on opposing forwards when they tried to cut to the net.
- How Tabor defended on the power play was emblematic of how it defended at 5v5. St. Mark's three goals came from shots out high and a breakaway. When the Lions cycled, they struggled to get to the middle and high-danger ice, and that had a lot to do with Tabor's big defensemen (Benoit, Dzavik, Sweeney, Carter) and the relentlessness from its forwards getting low in the zone to cut off angles. Senior defenseman Marcello Martinelli (North Providence, R.I.) is 5-foot-9, but still used his stick to cut off routes to the net.
- The Seawolves won this game without Sacred Heart commit Ethan Travis (Narragansett, R.I.), who entered with seven goals and 12 points and is one of the better players in prep.
- With the win, Tabor jumped to No. 4 in JSPR, while St. Mark's fell from No. 1 to No. 5. It's Jan. 10, which is still way too early to project how things will end. However, it's notable that Tabor is in such esteemed company. The Seawolves are in a fantastic spot with 15 games left.
