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A Red Raider Tantalizing Tie vs. Tanners 2-2
Score a pair of goals in the final minute of the game to tie
Flynn- Mark the date February 2, 2008 – We may have witnessed the
true resurgence of Melrose High School Hockey. The jubilation on the
Flynn rink ice surface said it all as the Red Raiders pulled off an
improbable comeback to tie a powerful Woburn Tanners team by a score
of 2-2 on a goal credited to Colin Murphy with .001 seconds in
regulation. The emotion shown by Melrose players and coaches hopping
the boards to join the celebration in the Woburn end of the ice was
truly stirring. The Red Raider coaching staff had called a time out
in the final few minutes of play to install faith in the players and
on two occasions they were rewarded after pulling Goaltender Sean
Morris for an extra attacker. How rewarding it was not only escaping
the jaws of a certain defeat but doing it against Woburn High team
where many of the Melrose coaches were employed in previous years.
The teams battled back
and forth for two and a half scoreless periods. Goaltender’s Sean
Morris for Melrose and Sam Gately for Woburn were superb for their
respective teams throughout playing aggressive at the the top of the
crease to handle many first shots while the defensemen took care of
rebounds. Forwards played position, moved the puck quickly, and took
the physical play to one another. The drama unfolded mid way through
when Melrose was granted a two man advantage but could not score
against the aggressive Woburn penalty killers. The big play to that
point was turned in by goaltender Sean Morris who made a great save
off DiPinto on a break away while shorthanded but Melrose was
penalized on the play for holding which nullified their man advantage.
The scoreless tie was finally broken at the 6:53 mark when Bobby
Holland snuck out of the penalty box and behind the Melrose defense to
take a long cross ice feed from DiPinto for a breakaway on Morris off
the left wing. The power forward beat him cleanly to the stick side
with a pair of slick head fakes. Woburn doubled the lead to 2-0 with
less that four minutes to play when Matt Baldino converted a slick
feed from Renda in the right corner under the sliding Morris. The
Raiders caught a break with just under 2:00 to play when Woburn took a
careless penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Raiders responded quickly and
scored on a 6 on 4 man advantage after with Morris pulled from the
goal for an extra skater. Off a face off center Eric Farr was able to
push the puck to Mike Fimiani at the bottom of the left circle for a
quick wrist shot that slipped through Gately’s pads to make it 2-1.
The Captain has scored some clutch goals this season and this one with
.59 to play gave the Red Raider bench hope. When play resumed they
pulled Morris for a second time putting Murphy on the ice but could
not muster the quality shot they needed on the Woburn goal. A
deflected shot caused a stoppage in play with the ensuing face off
positioned just above the left circle with .05 seconds to play. When
the puck was dropped and Mike Darling took control of it out of a
scrum of players and whisked a desperation shot to the net. To Melrose
good fortune, the puck deflected (possibly off Murphy) and popped up
in the air then rolled off the shoulder and down the back of Sam
Gately and into the Woburn net setting off a celebration that have
been few and far between for Melrose on their home ice. It was a nice
moment for Melrose High School and Melrose Hockey. The point the
stolen from Woburn brought the Melrose point total ten (10) breaking
double digits for the first time in four years.
It would be unfair if
it went unmentioned on how the team pulled together to play such a
solid game against a premier Middlesex team like Woburn. Some notable
lines:
-The play of the first
line again without Chris Powers. They looked healthier and were
involved especially Farr who was all over the ice. Of course Fimiani
and Darling were heroic in the final minute.
- The play of the second
line with Murphy’s skating strength and defining play in the final
moment, the physical play of Captain Billy Allan who won more races to
loose pucks and the sacrifice of Peter Hanson diving to block as
number of shots when Woburn had the pressure.
- The buzzing play of
the third line of Chris Fimiani, Jack Moriarty, and Greg Porcaro who
had some great shifts and turned in some tenacious work
- The strong defense of
Seniors Elias Thorp and Nick Clark angling off the Woburn defenders
and playing physical. The steady play of Andrew Groak and Connor
MacBride keeping the pressure off Morris. And finally the exceptional
play of Chris Healy and Jon Ahern with their reading of the play and
execution skills in both offensive and defensive zones as well as the
power play.
- Strong confident
Goaltending of Senior Sean Morris
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