MILTON, Mass. — As time ticked away in the third period, the Belmont Hill student section began to chant “This is our house.”
They weren’t wrong because, in Wednesday night’s Elite 8 quarterfinal matchup, No. 6 Belmont Hill went into No. 3 Milton Academy’s arena and took down the Mustangs, 7-2.
It wasn’t really ever close.
Belmont Hill held all the momentum early in the first period and scored at the 9:39 mark when junior defenseman Lenny Greenberg made a sweet pass to find senior left wing Daniel Markham (Winchester, Mass.) wide open in front of the net for the tap-in goal to make it 1-0.
Milton Academy responded just under five minutes later when senior forward Henry Cohen (Sudbury, Mass.) grabbed a rebound and sifted it past Belmont Hill goalie Keagin Wilson (Hingham, Mass.) to tie the score, 1-1.
Then Milton turned the puck over coming out of its own end and Belmont Hill junior left wing Jake McManus (Winthrop, Mass.) found himself with the puck. He went in on Milton goalie Sam Caulfield (Needham, Mass.) on a 2-on-0 and slid the puck through Caulfield’s legs to give Belmont Hill the 2-1 lead.
Then, just 48 seconds later, Belmont Hill senior right wing Ronan O’Donnell (Fairfield, Conn.) tipped a shot from senior defenseman Josh Doolan (Southborough, Mass.) past Caulfield to make it 3-1.
Milton answered midway through the second period when Mason Chen slapped a shot past Wilson from the point on the power play to cut Belmont Hill’s lead to 3-2.
The Sextants never let Milton back in.
Belmont Hill sophomore defenseman Grayson Cohen (Weston, Mass.) found himself open in front of the Milton net with just over four minutes to play in the second period. He got a pass from O’Donnell and tipped it through the out-stretched Caulfield to make it 4-2.
Milton junior Ryan Shea (Norwell, Mass.) went to the box with one minute to play in the middle frame. Seven seconds later, Greenberg sniped a shot over Caulfield’s right shoulder to make it 5-2 Belmont Hill.
The third period opened with Belmont Hill senior Dane Carter (Concord, Mass.) taking a penalty just 1:21 in. It was a 4-on-3 because Milton defenseman Dylan Hunt (Marlborough, Mass.) and O’Donnell were in the box from a scrum that occurred at the end of the second period. Milton called a timeout to try and draw up a play. But off the ensuing faceoff, Greenberg took it end-to-end and sniped one over Caulfield to make it 6-2.
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Belmont Hill senior Marc Butler (Arlington, Mass.) scored with 31.9 seconds left in the game to make it 7-2.
The Sextants advanced to face Avon Old Farms on Saturday in the Elite 8 semifinals.
Here are standout players and takeaways from the matchup.
Lenny Greenberg
Belmont Hill, 3/7/05, D, right shot, 6-0/174
NCAA: Sacred Heart
Greenberg was great from start to finish. He was dynamic and his offensive instincts were outstanding Wednesday night. His assist on Markham’s goal to open the scoring was most impressive. And don’t get me wrong — the two goals were snipes. But at that point in the game, both fan bases were going crazy and the game had been fairly sloppy. For Greenberg to have the poise to get his head up, find Markham open in front of the net and disguise his pass as a shot was a tone-setting move for the Sextants.
Ronan O’Donnell
Belmont Hill, 2/26/04, RW, right shot, 6-2/174
NCAA: Yale
O’Donnell’s veteran presence was clear. He was assertive and played physical. He was hard on the forecheck and made life difficult for Milton defenders going back into their own end to retrieve pucks. His goal was nice, but what really stood out was his play-making abilities and creating space for linemates. Speaking of…
Brock Cummings
Belmont Hill, 3/23/05, C, left shot, 6-2/194
Over the course of the season, Cummings has established himself as a legitimate, No. 1 center. He was great on draws, like when he won one right back to defenseman Matthew Biotti (Cambridge, Mass.), who passed it to Greenberg for his first goal. Cummings was also great on the forecheck, not using physicality so much as using his hockey sense and stick to separate the puck from the Milton defender. The line of Cummings, O’Donnell and Markham was dominant.
Josh Doolan
Belmont Hill, 3/28/04, D, right shot, 6-2/190
Doolan, who played mostly with Biotti Wednesday night, was a shutdown force on Belmont Hill’s back end. He made life tough on Milton forwards trying to get to the middle and battling for pucks in the corners. He also did a great job finding an open forward to make clean breakout passes.
Mason Chen
Milton Academy, 5/31/04, D, left shot, 5-11/175
Chen was the lone bright spot for Milton. He had a goal on the power play that made things seem like they would start to go in Milton’s favor. He moved the puck well and drove play a lot for a defenseman. He was constantly gaining offensive zone entries.
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Takeaways
- The last time these two teams played, it was a 6-2 win for Milton. The Sextants came out like it was fresh on their minds and they wanted revenge. They played faster than Milton all night and were more aggressive, especially on the forecheck. They controlled play for almost the entire game.
- Milton never really got any good, sustained offensive zone time aside from power plays. That was because Belmont Hill didn’t give up its own blue line much and kept the Mustangs to the perimeter.
- In my 16 most impactful players in the Elite 8 story, I gave Greenberg an honorable mention. After watching his play Wednesday night, he made me regret not putting him higher.
- It was a tough night for Caulfield. The star goalie had trouble with rebound control and pucks that he normally stopped were going through and over him. That shouldn’t take away from an outstanding season for the sophomore. This will probably motivate him over the offseason and when he takes the ice next season.
- This was a tough way to go out for Milton head coach Paul Cannata, who’s headed for retirement. But his long, successful career as bench boss for the Mustangs will make this game fade into irrelevance. His legacy was locked up long before the puck dropped Wednesday night.
