Robishaw’s OT goal sends NR into first round
Published in the March 1, 2018 edition
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
WATERTOWN —It was a memorable night for Stephen Robishaw as he scored on a coast-to-coast play to give the North Reading High boys’ hockey team a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over Essex Tech in the preliminary round of the Division 2 North state tournament on Monday night at Ryan Arena in Watertown. The goal came with 1:09 left in the first six-minute 4-on-4 overtime session.
“Stephen went wide on the play and showed good speed,” said Hornets head coach John Giuliotti.
With that win, the 16th-seeded Hornets improved to 10-8-3 while 17th-seeded Essex Tech ended the year at 8-9-4.
After a scoreless first period, Jake DiNapoli scored with 12:21 left in the second period assisted by Ryan Fabrizio and Keith Lumb. The Hawks answered less than two minutes later as Chris Masta tied it up.
STEPHEN ROBISHAW crashes into the Essex Tech goalie after he scored the winning goal in overtime during Monday night’s D2 North preliminary round game. (Courtesy Photo)
Josh Ramirez the gave the locals the lead again with 7:57 left in the second assisted by Patrick Scanlon but Masta scored again with 6:15 to tie it.
That tally came on the power play.
Essex Tech then took its first lead with 2:48 remaining in the second as Colin Levesque lit the lamp causing Giuliotti to call time out. Just nine seconds later, the Hornets responded as Josh Zelikman scored unassisted to cap off a crazy period.
North Reading dominated the territorial play all night as they outshot the Hawks, 53-21. Essex Tech goalie Shane Ahlin made 49 saves while Hornets net minder, Justin DiPlatzi, made 18 saves.
“That kid was great all night,” stated Giuliotti, about Ahlin. “He really set the tone of the game.”
Clinch postseason with win over Danvers
North Reading entered its regular-season finale needing at least a tie just to qualify for the states as they faced host Danvers last Friday at Endicott College.
They ended up winning the game, 2-1, over the Northeastern Conference champion Falcons.
After a scoreless first period, Zelikman scored on the power play with 4:08 left in the second period to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead. Ramirez and Scanlon both assisted.
With 1:58 left in the game, Kevin Murphy made it 2-0 with Robishaw and Trevor Lundy assisting.
The Hornets (9-8-3) then committed a penalty and Tom Mento scored with a minute left assisted by Conor Purtell and Nic DiSciullo. Danvers then pulled their goalie but North Reading was able to hold on.
Both teams had 23 shots on net as DiPlatzi made 22 saves.
North Reading and Danvers (15-4-1) met again in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 28 in Stoneham (results not available at press time).
If the Hornets win, they will play #8 North Andover on Friday, March 2, 7:40 p.m. at the Chelmsford Forum in the quarterfinal round. North Andover beat #9 Gloucester, 7-3, on Tuesday night.
