ASHBURNHAM, Mass. — Wednesday evening’s game between Cushing and Dexter won’t be going in any textbook on how to play a prep hockey game. It was a sloppy 54 minutes of hockey at Iorio Arena with the home team coming away victorious by a score of 2-1.
The Penguins struck first when Michael Penna (Hampden, Mass.) slid a puck through the five-hole of Dexter Southfield starting goaltender Max Gatti (Winchester, Mass.), who left the game on the play due to a groin injury. Senior Joey Bennett (Cohasset, Mass.) picked up the assist on the score that came just under two minutes into the game.
Shortly thereafter, with Cushing on the power play, Dexter Southfield answered. Bobby Landry (Hingham, Mass.) went to the net and banged home a rebound to knot the score at one. Assists on the play went to Grayson Badger (Hyde Park, Mass.) and Sean Keohane (Milton, Mass.).
About midway through the third period, Ethan Gardula (Princeton, Mass.) buried the game-winner off a feed from Boston College commit Billy Norcross (Lynn, Mass.). The other assist was credited to Landan Resendes (Marlboro, Mass.).
The game had very little flow to it, in large part due to subpar officiating. It’s always a shame when referees think the game is about them and take it over. For much of the game, it was a constant parade to the penalty box. As a result, the top players on each team received a ton of ice time with the specialty team situations. Dexter Southfield’s fourth line got one shift the entire game by my count. Cushing’s fourth line might have gotten two.
Whether it was the lack of flow or just early season jitters, a lot of top players who I typically like didn’t have their best games. Despite it not being the best game to watch, my mind was unchanged on both teams likely being destined for the Elite 8 Tournament.
Player of the game
Jackson Irving
Cushing, 2/3/04, G, catches left, 6-0/175
Irving didn’t face a ton of rubber, but he made two or three game-changing saves. The one that stands out the most was midway through the second period when he made a save on Landry from point-blank range. He made a couple of important saves late in the third period with Dexter Southfield making a late push. Irving did a good job not allowing a lot of second chances and fighting through traffic to track pucks during the Dexter Southfield power plays.Â
Aside from stopping pucks, the Newbury, Mass., native was involved in one of the weirder plays of the game. Irving came out to play the puck and got blown up by a Dexter Southfield player. Penalties were called on Irving and Mick Frechette (Weston, Mass.) of Dexter Southfield. The collision led to a skirmish involving all 10 skaters on the ice.
Kudos also go to Dexter Southfield goaltender Alex Mickanin (Hopkinton, Mass.), who made some key saves and only allowed one goal, after coming on in relief of Gatti, who left the game after just 1:56.
Cushing lines
Gardula - Norcross - Resendes
Dedinus - Kesselring - Childs
Bennett - Wallace - Penna
Favreau - XX - Agnew
Paskowski - Ferraz
Philbrick - Marcoux
Cummings - Tatro
Elmblad
Irving
Dexter Southfield lines
Wilson - Landry - Badger
Naumann - Emery - Hughes
Sutherland - Larkin - F. Frechette
Alexander - Dwan - Hurton
Frechette - Fusco
Keohane - Lanza
O’Keeffe
Gatti
Mickanin
