ARLINGTON, Mass. — Massachusetts high school hockey’s top public school teams had the spotlight of the region on them Sunday afternoon at Ed Burns Arena.
The eight best public school teams in the MIAA took to the ice for the first round of the Doherty Division of the Ed Burns Coffee Pot on Sunday afternoon.
The event, in its second year, was an idea thought up by Arlington head coach John Messuri. It is meant to showcase players and teams and emulate the Beanpot, the hallowed tournament featuring the four Boston college hockey teams.
Three Middlesex League teams, Arlington, Belmont and Reading, will join top-seeded Hingham in next weekend’s semifinals. The Harbormen and Spy Ponders advanced with wins over Canton and Braintree, respectively. On paper, Belmont and Reading were upset winners over Marshfield and Wellesley, respectively.
Scoreboard
- No. 1 Hingham 3, No. 8 Canton 1
- No. 2 Arlington 3, No. 7 Braintree 2 (OT)
- No. 6 Belmont 2, No. 3 Marshfield 0
- No. 5 Reading 4, No. 4 Wellesley 1
Click or tap here to view the standouts and takeaways from the Brinn Division.Â
Hingham powers past Canton
The Harbormen jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Connor Lasch, Joe Hennessey and Brady Gannon before Canton scored a third-period goal to get on the board. This game was never in doubt as Hingham was far too much for the Bulldogs.
Lasch, a senior right wing, gave Hingham a 1-0 lead when he crashed the net and was the beneficiary of a flukey bounce. Junior defenseman Jack Rakauskas’ shot from the point hit Lasch and fluttered into the net. Senior captain and left wing Billy Jacobus had the secondary assist.
Hingham increased its lead to 2-0 when Hennessey finished off a pretty tic-tac-toe passing sequence on an odd-man rush with linemates Paul Dzavik and Connor Richardson.
ED BURNS CLASSIC: Check out the full schedule and scores from all games
Fourth-line left wing Brady Gannon redirected another point shot from Rakauskas to give Hingham a 3-0 lead. The secondary assist went to fellow blue liner Chase McKenna, who had slid the pass over to his partner.
Senior defenseman Griffin Hughes put Canton on the board late when he picked up loose change as the trailer on a transitional play. Sophomore right wing Travis Thomas had the initial shot on net that was blocked.
What Sunday showed was something I had noticed in previous viewings of Hingham. Tony Messina’s team has the most depth of any public school team in the state. The first, third and fourth lines each picked up goals. If there’s a favorite to win the state championship outside of St. John’s Prep and Catholic Memorial, it has to be Hingham.
STANDOUTS
Chase McKenna
Hingham, 1/12/05, D, right shot, 5-9/160
McKenna was on top of his game Sunday. He’s on the smaller side, but he skates well, has tight gaps, and moves pucks quickly and efficiently. He recovered and got back to break up a shorthanded chance after a miscue from his partner. On a number of occasions, he killed plays on the rush, due to his stick and backwards mobility. He got a few shots through from the point and showed poise when moving it around while walking the blue line.
Billy Jacobus
Hingham, 7/2/05, LW, left shot, 5-7/150
Jacobus was a water bug forward who buzzed around out there. He’s quick and tenacious on the forecheck and plays in all situations. His compete level going both ways stood out a few times. He picked up a secondary assist on the first goal of the game.
Luke McLellan
Hingham, 1/1/05, G, catches left, 6-2/177
McLellan is a great story, as he’s a first-year starter as a senior. He’s got good size and outplayed his counterpart at the other end Sunday, despite being the lesser-known of the two. His biggest save came in the third with Canton making a charge. It was a glove save from point-blank range.
Hingham lines
Jacobus - Rugg - Lasch
Garrity - Concannon - Brazel
P. Dzavik - Hennessey - Richardson
Gannon - Lemieux - Packard
Rakauskas - McKenna
Carroll - A. Dzavik
Doherty - Brennan
McLellan
Canton lines
Chaput - A. Thomas - Tourgee
Digiralamo - Middleton - T. Thomas
Drury - M. Thomas - Blake
O’Brien - (No. 20) - LaBelle
Lauro - Hughes
Morris - Carr
Shuman - Anderson
Thompson - Findlen
Davis
Spy Ponders rally to down Wamps
For much of Sunday’s second game, Arlington looked doomed to lose in the opening round for the second straight year. Braintree was up 2-0 and relatively in command until sophomore left wing Liam Gore scored a power play goal in the third period. Defenseman Stephanos Sotiropoulos forced overtime with a goal to tie the score at two. In the extra session, Drew Fecteau scored a power play goal by slipping a backhand through the five hole.
Gore’s goal happened because he was camped out in front of the net on the man advantage. He jammed home a loose puck with assists going to Jake Russell and Ryan Gilbert. Sotiropoulos forced overtime with a goal assisted by defenseman Evan Jones and right wing Killian Wright.
The overtime goal was a nice finish by Fecteau, who was skating left to right before sliding it through the legs of Braintree goaltender Ryan Cochrane. But the real highlight of the play came from Jones, a freshman who logs a ton of minutes on the Arlington blue line. He made a couple of players miss in the neutral zone and upon zone entry before dishing it off to Fecteau.
Braintree got out to a 2-0 lead on goals from sophomore right wing Andrew Gaffney and senior center Anthony Cappello. The Wamps were without senior goaltender Jack Fitzpatrick, a Division 1 baseball commit to Dayton who has missed most of the hockey season with an injury.
STANDOUTS
Evan Jones
Arlington, 2/9/07, D, left shot, 5-8/165
This was somewhat of a coming-out party for Jones, who had a big assist on the game-winning goal in overtime. The athletic, puck-moving defenseman made a great move before sliding the puck off to Fecteau in overtime. There were a couple of times throughout the game when he spun to avoid opposing forecheckers. He’s certainly one of the best defensemen I’ve seen in the MIAA all season.
Jake Russell
Arlington, 2/11/04, C, right shot, 5-9/160
I had seen Arlington once before this season without Russell. He certainly makes a difference skating as the team’s top center. He makes plays and can be the offensive catalyst as the Spy Ponders look to make a push for a state championship. He skates well and hunts pucks.
Liam Gore
Arlington, 6/22/07, LW, left shot, 5-10/161
Gore had his ups and downs, as you might expect for an '07 playing in a big game. His goal came by going to the net, which he can certainly do with his skating ability and strong physical presence. He had a couple of near misses. For Gore, it’s all about getting chances and playing a simple, but hard, north-south game.
Larry Graziano
Braintree, 1/4/06, LW, left shot, 6-2/200
Graziano had two assists for Braintree. On his first assist, he was the F1 and dug a puck out of the corner and got it to the slot. The second was one where he helped get the puck out front for a scramble that was finished by a linemate. Graziano also blocked a couple of shots and threw his body around. He’s big, strong and can be impactful as a power forward. A terrific teammate, he’ll do whatever it takes to win games. If he can have more confidence and take the puck to the net more, he’d become more productive.
Arlington lines
Fecteau - J. Russell - Gilbert
Gore - N. Russell - Wright
O’Connor - Yunes - Mansfield
Paterson - Kelly - McNulty
Jones - Sotiropoulos
Desmond - Kiss
Davies
Braintree lines
DiMartino - Rizzo - Fasano
Graziano - Cappello - Hutchinson
O’Rourke - Young - Gaffney
Bosse - Lucas - Frechette
Coady - Harvey
Joyce - Fantasia
Civittolo - Baltaduonis
Cochrane
Belmont blanks Marshfield in day’s first upset
Star senior right wing Cam Fici had an assist on the game-winner and added an empty net goal to continue his torrid scoring pace as Belmont defeated Marshfield, 2-0, in the day’s third game.
COACHES POLL: Arlington, Marshfield move up in the latest coaches poll
Fici made a great tape-to-tape pass on a two-on-one rush to feed defenseman Peter Grace for a goal to give the Marauders the 1-0 lead. Fici put the game on ice in the final minute with Marshfield goaltender Brady Quackenbush out for the extra attacker. Grace picked up the assist on that goal to give him two points on the afternoon. Senior Greg Federico picked up the shutout for Belmont.
STANDOUTS
Cam Fici
Belmont, 4/2/04, RW, right shot, 5-8/160
Fici’s empty net goal was his 20th of the season and he has 11 assists after his helper on Grace’s tally. This wasn’t necessarily Fici’s best game, but he still made a couple of plays and got off a couple of quality scoring chances. The puck came off his stick with some zip on a wrist shot that he whistled just wide. The assist on the two-on-one with Grace was an underrated nice play. He showed a little deception before sliding the puck over to the charging defenseman.
Peter Grace
Belmont, 3/31/05, D, left shot, 6-4/190
Grace and fellow senior Joe Gaziano play key minutes, including power play and penalty kill, together. Both log a ton of minutes, but Grace has the size and offensive ability to stand out a little more. He’s big, strong and covers a lot of ground. His wrist shot just inside the post was a thing of beauty on his goal. His assist to Fici showed his ability to keep things simple and efficient on breakouts.
Tommy Carroll
Marshfield, 4/11/05, C, right shot, 5-9/165
It was hard to find much in the way of positives for a Marshfield offense that didn’t muster any real scoring threats on Sunday, but Carroll stood out a few times. He’s small, but he’s quick and buzzes out there. He had the puck a decent amount and was around the play. It was easy to see why he’s the leading scorer for the Rams.
Brady Quackenbush
Marshfield, 11/5/04, G, catches left, 5-10/155
Quackenbush was the hard-luck loser in this game. He only allowed one goal, but it wasn’t meant to be. He’s fairly sound technically and doesn’t flop around a lot, which you might expect for a smaller goaltender. Wearing the captain’s ‘C,’ Quackenbush is the driver for this team. Marshfield will go as far as Quackenbush takes them this February and March.
Belmont lines
Donahue - Bauer - Fici
Kelleher - Mahoney - Noone
Nortz - Kefeyan - L. Packard
Mi. Pomer - Ma. Pomer - B. Packard
Grace - Melanson
Gaziano - Martin
Federico
Marshfield lines
Hemingway - McGlame - Croft
Faria - Carroll - Arnone
Holte - McLaughlin - Garland
Burke - Berian - Ewell
O’Brien - Reisman
Merrick - Bekerian
Rotondo - Keeler
Quackenbush
Reading’s first line powers victory
In the most lopsided game of the day, Reading skated to a 4-1 victory over Wellesley in what was a slight paper upset. However, to anyone who follows MIAA hockey, the result came as no surprise.
Reading’s top line scored three of the four goals and proved to be too much for an outmatched Wellesley squad. Third-line right wing Ben Wright scored his first goal of the year on a two-on-one from linemate Jack Donnelly to give the Rockets a 1-0 lead in the second period. The first line took over from there.
Senior center Evan Pennucci made a great individual effort to skate around a few opposing players and use his speed wide down the left wing side before hitting a driving Cam Fahey at the far post. The junior right wing, orchestrating a perfect middle lane drive, easily held his stick out and pushed the puck home.
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Not long after that, Fahey blew down the left wing and fired a shot on net. The initial shot was stopped, but left wing Robbie Granara crashed the net and buried the rebound. That gave Mark Doherty’s team a 3-0 lead heading to the second intermission. Defenseman Maxx Owens finished off a feed from Pennucci on a two-on-one to give Reading a 4-0 lead in the third period.
The lone Wellesley goal was scored by senior left wing Christian Mattaliano. He drove the net for a rebound goal off a shot from the right wing wall by junior Nils Tellander.
STANDOUTS
Evan Pennucci
Reading, 10/24/04, C, right shot, 5-10/190
Pennucci had a couple of assists and made a couple of other plays that could have resulted in goals. He skates well, which allows him to separate from and evade opposing defenders. His vision stood and creativity with the puck on his stick stood out.
Robbie Granara
Reading, 1/1/05, LW, left shot, 6-1/195
NCAA: UMass (lacrosse)
Granara was shifty and made more than a few Wellesley defenders miss over the course of the game. He skates well and definitely had some highlight reel plays with the puck on his stick. A good athlete, he brings a wealth of experience to the top line alongside Pennucci.
Laz Giardina
Reading, 6/29/06, LW, left shot, 6-5/190
Giardina didn’t find the score sheet, but he hit the post twice and had a couple of other near misses. The junior is an intriguing prospect with his size, skating ability, and shot. If he can continue to be more assertive and demand the puck, he’ll become even more productive.
Cam Fahey
Reading, 11/8/05, RW, right shot, 5-10/165
Fahey has grown a little bit since last year and showed well on Sunday. He scored a goal and had an assist. Getting kids to drive the middle lane isn’t always easy, so the fact he scored his goal by heading straight to the far post was something I like to see. He’s the third part of Reading’s top line, which is one of the best in the state.
Kyle Parker
Wellesley, 5/9/06, D, right shot, 5-7/135
Parker was the only Wellesley player to catch my eye, as he did in last year’s Ed Burns Tournament. He’s on the smaller side, but he’s mobile, makes good tape-to-tape passes, and has some agility to sidestep oncoming forecheckers.
Reading lines
Granara - Pennucci - Fahey
Giardina - Boyle - Fichera
Donnelly - Walsh - Wright
Filosa - Wilson - MacCurtain
Thompson - Miele
Michael - Johnson
Owens - McFarland
Hanifan
Wellesley lines
Mattaliano - Kelleher - K. Sharpe
Turner - Marshall - S. Maxwell
Tellander - B. Sharpe - Reilly
P. Maxwell - Aberbach
Parker - Hamburger
O’Neil
