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Burlington Bruises Melrose 4-2
Red Raiders win streak stopped at three
Melrose – Burlington Red Devils on the strength of Joe Yeadon’s play
(1G 1A) defeated the Melrose Red Raiders by a score of 4-2 at Flynn
Rink. The loss broke the brings the Melrose record in Middlesex
League play to 4-9-1 for 9 points with six (6) games remaining in the
season. In order to attain an MIAA playoff spot the Raiders would need
to win at least five games of the remaining games and tie one other.
A tall order indeed for the red and white considering the schedule
they face in February.
The Red Raiders already
had their work cut out for them before the opening faceoff when it was
announced offensive leader Chris Powers would be sidelined for the
next two games as a result of an infraction in the Belmont game. This
added more pressure to the team’s first line whose members have been
bruised up in recent games. Mike Darling has been playing with a bad
shoulder and Captain Mike Fimiani who has had his share of physical
ailments playing hard in the corners and was favoring his upper body
in this game. Eric Farr filled in admirably in this game for Powers as
first line center however the line could not muster the quality
scoring chances they usually create. It was apparent in this game that
the other lines needed to step up.
Senior Captain Billy
Allan, filling in for Farr on the second line, scored to get Melrose
on the board at 5:08 of the first period. Working on a line with Peter
Hanson and Colin Murphy the trio dodged the Burlington defense and
wrapped pucks on Burlington goaltender Ben Irwin who had trouble
containing the rebounds. Allan managed to push the puck through the
fallen net minder in a scrum for a 1-0 lead. The lead held into the
last minute of play when Burlington’s talented freshmen Joe Yeadon
forced a turnover in the right corner and threw a pass to an uncovered
Keith Viennueau in the slot for an easy conversion past Sean Morris
with .51 remaining to tie the score. The scrappy Red Raiders did not
let the goal bring them down and answered right back with .26 left.
Junior forward Greg Porcaro, playing with Chris Fimiani and Jack
Moriarty, scored his second goal in consecutive games, swooping out
from behind the Burlington net to stiff a shot by Irwin after stealing
the puck from Burlington defenseman Brian Hanafin for the 2-1
advantage after one period. Irwin was replaced by Mike Digman in the
second period.
The teams traded chances
in the second period and the Raiders play somewhat erratic. Sophomore
Chris Healy continued his “heady” play and turned in perhaps his best
game of the season. His “cool” handling of the puck while under
pressure and outlet passes kept the Melrose flow moving when they
struggled. He plays with poise and keeps things simple and
effective. This night he stepped up numerous times to playing
physical and bumping Burlington forwards off loose pucks in the
neutral zone. Melrose center Colin Murphy had one of the best chances
for skating in on Digman off a nifty “behind the back” feed from Allan
but just missed on his shot on goal. Burlington pressed and had
Melrose bottled up in their zone for a few stretches half way through
the period. Burlington’s Chris Marchese would eventually capitalize
from the slot off a pouncing on a loose rebound to send the teams to
the locker room deadlocked at 2-2.
In period three
Burlington went ahead for the first time in the game with Joe Yeadon
scoring on the power play. The crafty Freshman straddled the blue
behind the Melrose defense and took a long feed from defenseman Brian
Hanafin to break in alone and beat Sean Morris to the stick side. With
4:00 remaining Burlington went up by two goals on a score by Captain
Jake Patrick who deflected a Kevin O’Neill slap shot from the right
point. Melrose players complained that the puck was deliberately
kicked in but the officials gathered and ruled that the redirect was
not intentional. Melrose could not muster enough offense in the time
remaining on the clock and skated off knowing they had not played with
their best intensity which had been missing throughout parts of the
game.
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