MARLBORO, Mass. — The Neponset Valley River Rats took down East Coast Militia, 5-1, on Sunday to win the 15O Tier 1 2022 National Bound State Championship.
The River Rats opened the game with two goals in the first period and they never looked back, adding a tally in the second period and two more in the third. The second period was when the Militia logged their lone goal, which we’ll get to in a bit.
The River Rats came in as the No. 2 seed, and the Militia entered at No. 5. While the Militia had a nice run in the tournament to get to the final, the River Rats had no problem showing why they were the higher seed.
Neponset Valley dominated most of the game, controlling the action and playing a lot of minutes in the Militia’s end.
Here are the standout players from the championship.
Joe Marchi
River Rats, 10/30/2007, FWD, right-shot, 5-7/155
Hometown: Foxboro, Mass.
Marchi opened the scoring for the River Rats, scoring a wraparound goal after Jake Assad’s (Franklin, Mass.) shot hit the post. He added two assists. Still, even stats don’t tell the story of how good Marchi was on Sunday. The Catholic Memorial product protected the puck extremely well in corners and played so much bigger than he is. He was terrific in the left-elbow spot on the power play, setting up for shots and even making a great pass to Joe Feinberg (Needham, Mass.) for a goal on the man advantage.
Michael Munroe
River Rats, 7/6/2007, FWD, left-shot, 5-8/154
Hometown: Hanover, Mass.
Munroe had a rough start to his game, getting hit and losing his helmet, causing the officials to blow the play dead and the Militia bench to have quite the reaction. He rebounded well, seemingly channeling that for motivation and playing physical without going over the line. On one shift in the second period, he was hard on the forecheck and helped keep the Militia hemmed in their own end. As the puck was exiting the zone, he was hit late from behind, drawing a penalty. He set up multiple chances off the half-wall of each power play he was on. He’s a good skater with a good set of hands.
Evan Handler
River Rats, 3/19/2007, D, right-shot, 5-6/140
Hometown: Walpole, Mass.
He’s not the most noticeable player on the ice, but I thought Handler had a great day. He’s small, but knows how to use his size. He broke the puck well out of his own zone and had no problem joining the rush. He was also good at the top of the power play, getting a secondary assist on Feinberg’s goal.
Nicholas D’Olympio
Militia, 6/8/2007, FWD, right-shot, 5-8/155
Hometown: Rockland, Mass.
While the Militia didn’t have a great game, D’Olympio played like a difference-maker, utilizing his hands and edge work to earn himself spots in high-danger areas. Midway through the second period, he dangled through two River Rats defenders and produced a quality scoring chance. There’s a reason the Militia run their power play through him on the half-wall. He notched an assist on Matthew Homer’s goal.
Matthew Homer
Militia, 8/4/2007, FWD, left-shot, 5-9/170
Hometown: Norton, Mass.
Homer scored the lone tally for the Militia, ripping a one-timer past River Rats goalie Anthony Palmer (Lynnfield, Mass.). He also stickhandled through the River Rats defense off the rush and got off a diving shot as he was tripped, drawing a penalty late in the second period.
