Red Raiders icemen must wait till next year

Billerica upsets Melrose in playoffs, 2-1

Published March 8, 2019

By DANIEL ZIMMERMAN

STONEHAM—In recent high school ice hockey tournament quarterfinal games, all four of the Division 1 North match-ups were decided by one goal, which is a testament to the MIAA decision-making process. The bracket design was obviously a job-well-done.

That’s small consolation to the losing teams, including Melrose, which was eliminated by an upstart Billerica club, 2-1, in Sunday night playoff action.

No. 7 Billerica claimed a 1-0 lead late in the first period on a power play, added insurance in the second, and then weathered the storm on the way to an upset win over No. 2 Melrose and a semi-final meeting with Winchester.

“I thought it was an evenly-played game, up and down,” said Melrose coach Vin Mirasolo. “I thought it could have gone either way and I thought this was a real good high school hockey game.”

While Melrose enjoyed an impressive 2018-19 campaign, wrapping up with an enviable 12-5-5 record, there were struggles down the stretch, including a 3-2 loss to Burlington, a 4-0 blanking at the hands of Xaverian, and a 4-2 defeat to Masconomet in the season finale. Prior to this untimely collapse, the Red Raiders had sustained only a single defeat all year. While it wasn’t said aloud, there were likely confidence issues in the mix.

Full of confidence was Billerica goaltender Connor Feeney, who drew praise from Mirasolo. “I thought their goalie played well,” the coach said. Daring would have been a better description. Several times, Feeney risked disaster by leaving the safety of the net to supplement the defense in disrupting Melrose chances.

One of those opportunities occurred right out of the starting gate when the Red Raiders top-scorer, Brendan Fennell (18-goals, 22-assists), fed linemate Cam Marks from the point. While Marks released a blistering shot that found five-hole, Feeney squeezed the pads just enough to slow the trajectory and get a glove on it before it slid across.

Billerica Matt Livingston lit the lamp with 1:54 left in the opening frame, capitalizing on the first power play of the contest. While Marks served time on a borderline infraction that could just as easily been called a dive as opposed to hooking, Livingston set up on the left point and fired a feed from Alexander Coulot. Melrose goalie Mark Dewling got a piece of it but there was a lot of steam behind the shot and it carried in for a 1-0 lead.

The Indians added insurance early in the second as Matt Covino planted a tough-angle backhander behind Dewling. Coulot provided the helper on the goal, his second assist of the night, at 9:11.

At times, Lady Luck was in favor of Melrose. While skating on a two-man advantage late in the second, the Red Raiders were caught flat-footed when Billerica’s top-scorer Ryan Brouillette sprang from the penalty box and happened upon a wayward puck behind the play. He skated in alone but came up empty, hitting a post.

Other times, Ms. Luck frowned upon the Red Raiders. While killing off a penalty late in the game, Fennell blocked a shot and came up limping. He eventually made it to the bench and later returned but, at times, seemed less than a hundred percent.

“He’s a hard-nosed kid,” said Mirasolo, who didn’t agree that his best athlete wasn’t skating dinged-up down the stretch. “He never takes a shift off. You want twenty kids just like him. He’s as tough as nails.”

Melrose halved the deficit with 13:10 remaining. Skating on the man advantage, Marks collected a cross-ice feed from Joe Lucien and sent it from the high slot, beating Feeney to the glove side. But that proved to be the only time the Melrose faithful, gathered in the standing-room-only Stoneham Arena, had cause to cheer.

Mirasolo traded Dewling for an extra attacker with 1:09 left but Melrose never threatened.

“I thought we had our opportunities and I thought they had their opportunities,” said the coach. “I think we might have had more quality shots but in the end, I think this was a great high school hockey game and that’s how they should be played.”

Game Stats

Shots on Goal 1st 2nd 3rd Total

Melrose (12-5-5) 11 11 4 26

Billerica (11-6-4) 7 13 9 29

Melrose – Mark Dewling – 27 saves

Billerica – Connor Feeney – 25 saves

Scoring

Melrose 0 0 1 1

Billerica 1 1 0 2

Scoring Summary

1st period

Billerica – Matt Livingston from Alexander Coulot at 1:54

2nd period

Billerica – Matt Covino from Coulot at 9:11

3rd period

Melrose – Cam Marks from Joe Lucien at 13:10