Published in the March 7, 2018 edition
By DAN ZIMMERMAN
WATERTOWN — A battle of attrition waged last Tuesday night between Lynnfield and Wilmington for the right to advance to the quarterfinals of the MIAA North Division 2 hockey playoffs wasn’t decided until there were three seconds remaining.
As regulation ticked away and both benches prepared for overtime, Wilmington’s Robert Lord raced along the left wing under a full head of steam and fired a shot that ringed the interior of the Lynnfield net, from post to post, barely brushing against the twine.
It was a shot that stunned both camps and for several agonizing seconds, there was thought that it hadn’t gone in. But an official positioned behind the net nodded and pointed, triggering a frenzied reaction from the Wilmington players and fans gathered in the Ryan Arena.
JOEY MACK was one of six Pioneer seniors to lead Lynnfield to a 12-6-3 record. Lynnfield lost a heartbreaking 2-1 first round game when Wilmington scored with three seconds left. The Wildcats faced off against Stoneham in the D2N semifinals on Tuesday night. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
The one-goal upset defeat of No. 3 Lynnfield, which wrapped up the 2017-18 campaign with a 12-6-3 overall mark, just adds to the miseries of the most recent tournament visits for this team. In 2017, the Pioneers were ousted by Saugus in the quarterfinals and the year before, fell in overtime to Boston Latin in the first round.
“When this current group of seniors were freshman, we lost to Boston Latin with just three seconds left,” recalled Lynnfield coach Jon Gardner. “We live in close games like this. It was heartbreaking for the seniors, really the whole team, for that matter.”
On paper, Lynnfield was the heavy favorite but Gardner knew better than to discount Wilmington, which came into the tournament the No. 14-seed with a win-loss record just north of .500.
“I knew for six weeks that we were going to play Wilmington and I watched film for the last month,” the coach said. “It’s something that should be looked at. We had a great season and somehow we ended in Watertown at 5-o’clock against Wilmington. But hats-off to them. They’re a good team and that’s a good hockey town and it will be interesting to see how they do the rest of the way.”
From start to finish, both squads contested a highly-disciplined game. The officials put the whistles away, calling only a single penalty throughout. From the outset, the pace was frenetic. While the Wildcats held a slight edge in shots, the Lynnfield bids were of a better quality. The goaltenders, at both ends, were near flawless. Nothing flashy, just doing their jobs with textbook fundamentals.
Scoreless through two, Wilmington captured a 1-0 lead early in the third period on a goal from Thomas Worob, who lifted an uncommon rebound over the shoulder of Lynnfield junior goaltender Aidan Kelly. Assisted by Daniel Woods, the Wildcats go-ahead goal only served to elevate the persistent Pioneers.
Several minutes later, Lynnfield’s sophomore forward Jackson Hammersley collected a feed from linemate Robert Brandano, accelerated into the circle, and leaned into a heavy wrister that beat Wilmington goalie Ryan St. Jean low to the glove side. Christopher Flannery was also credited with an assist on the equalizer, with less than ten minutes left.
As the third period wore on, both teams took on a more defensive posture. Nobody wanted to be responsible for a season-ending mistake. But with three seconds remaining, Wilmington’s Lord lit the lamp to extend his team’s tournament run and end Lynnfield’s.
Wilmington coach Stephen Scanlon had recently explained that one of the strategies he likes to utilize is a fast-paced early attack in hopes of wearing down his opponent. Be he admitted that Lynnfield was too talented and too deep for this to be effective.
“We thought we had a little bit of an edge in the second period and I thought they were starting to fade a little,” the coach said. “But they came out strong in the third period. We were two evenly-matched teams but we play in the tough Middlesex League which gets you ready for tournament games like this.”
“We played our game plan tonight,” said Gardner. “When we were down by a goal, I was confident we could score and take it to overtime. This is a tough pill to swallow but I’m proud of my guys.”
Departing Lynnfield seniors include Brandano, Zachary Rothwell, Tyler Murphy, Cooper Marengi, Joey Mack, and Kyle Nekoroski.
