Warrior icemen beat Plymouth North in OT playoff thriller, 2-1

THE WARRIORS celebrate Andrew Nemec’s (19) 3^rd period goal with the Red Sea during last night’s 2-1 OT win over Plymouth North. No. 10 Wakefield will travel to Northstar Arena in Westborough tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. to meet No. 7 Algonquin in a Round of 16 matchup. (Dan Pawlowski Photos)

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

WOBURN — When your season is on the line, get your captains on the ice.

Five minutes into a grueling overtime period last night at the O’Brien Rink in a Div. 2 round one matchup between No. 10 Wakefield and No. 23 Plymouth North, the Warriors dug deep through exhaustion and a tough opponent, their three captains on the ice, relentlessly chipping away until Matt Elwell ended it on a rebound, setting off an epic celebration with the victors and their classmates in the Red Sea.

Wakefield’s 2-1 OT win sends them through to the Round of 16 where they will meet No. 7 Algonquin on Saturday night, 7:30 p.m. at Northstar Arena in Westborough.

“The captains, obviously they logged a ton of minutes,” said head coach Mike Geary about Elwell, Joe Colliton and Bobby DeFeo who both got assists on the winning goal. “But the senior class as a whole, we’ve been in a lot of close games fortunately so we’ve been used to this situation, and their leadership helps us through especially when you’re down a goal and you could be thinking, ‘there’s eight minutes left in my career,’ but you keep sticking to the process which is good to see,” said head coach Mike Geary.

THE WARRIORS celebrate Andrew Nemec’s (19) 3rd period goal with the Red Sea during last night’s 2-1 OT win over Plymouth North. No. 10 Wakefield will travel to Northstar Arena in Westborough tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. to meet No. 7 Algonquin in a Round of 16 matchup. (Dan Pawlowski Photos)

After two scoreless periods, the Eagles scored 50 seconds into the 3^rd. Wakefield outshot Plymouth North 37-17, but even still, it felt like Eagles’ goalie Kaden Bono (35 saves) had the talent to steal one for the visitors until sophomore Andrew Nemec finished after a scrum in front to tie it with 7:30 left.

With both teams buzzing to end the period but neither able to end it, overtime brought more of the same until Elwell finished it.

On the play, sophomore defenseman Trevor Veilleux, the fourth player on the ice for Wakefield, rang the left post on a slap shot from the point before Colliton recovered on the opposite point and sent it back towards the net, the puck bouncing off DeFeo in front before Elwell recovered and sent it past a sprawling Bono for one of the most exciting goals in Wakefield hockey history.

“We ask a lot out of him, he’s been a great two-year captain for me and has had a lot of big goals in his career and even just this year, it’s hard to keep track of honestly,” said Geary of Elwell.

Wakefield outshot Plymouth North 8-4 in the 1^st, but both teams seemed to be sizing up their opponents. Senior goalie Dom DeAngelis (16 saves) made a couple of tough stops to keep it scoreless and Wakefield’s defense played well including Colliton and Veilleux on the first line and John Regan, Brian Purcell and Liam McNeill. Purcell had a great play to cut off a rush at the boards, which was followed by a good backhand chance for Elwell but Bono made one of his multiple impressive saves in this one.

Elwell almost found DeFeo for a one-timer in front and senior Jack Curran had two great chances late on a strong net-drive but it remained scoreless.

SENIOR CAPTAIN Joe Colliton anchored Wakefield’s blue line while also creating plenty of chances during the team’s first round win over Plymouth North last night. Colliton assisted on Matt Elwell’s game-winning, OT goal. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

That’s a trend that continued in the 2^nd with Colliton creating some good chances while the defense held firm.

Plymouth North’s early 3^rd-period goal, scored by junior Sean Hallissey, shocked the Warriors a bit and certainly got the visiting fans on their feet, but Wakefield’s response was impressive as the Warriors started peppering the net, outshooting their opponents 14-6 in the final period.

Nemec’s goal was a result of relentless work as Curran and Veilleux assisted.

“Felt like 1^st period it took a little bit to find our legs but I thought we played better in the 2^nd and kind of overtook it in the 3^rd,” said Geary. “The way we responded to their goal – it could have been deflating but we got back into it and were able to fortunately get one there.”

DOM DEANGELIS made 16 saves in Wakefield’s first round, 2-1, OT win over Plymouth North at O’Brien Rink in Woburn last night. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

An overtime, playoff win will be remembered for a long time and should certainly be celebrated, but Wakefield’s journey will quickly continue when they hit the road as underdogs to meet a 14-4-2 Algonquin team who knocked off No. 26 Newton South 4-0 in the first round.

“I told them, ‘I want you to enjoy this, it’s something you’re going to remember but the reality of the situation is we’re 48 hours away from the next one.’ I want them to enjoy it and then get ready to work tomorrow.”

Algonquin won the Quinn Conference with a league record of 5-2-1. The Middlesex League Freedom Division champion Warriors will bring a 12-7-2 record into town.