ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
From left, Ryan Noonan, Tom Albert and Jack Sullivan celebrate Matt Yianacopolus’, right, goal in the first period.
By STEVE FREKER
CHELMSFORD — That might have been the aroma of burned rubber wafting up from the ice at Chelmsford Forum Wednesday night.
Its origin was either the rapid-fire stream of pucks hitting the back of the Marshfield net off the sticks of Malden Catholic shooters, or the Lancers stomping on the gas pedal on their way out of the rink as they left their first-round Super 8 opponent in the dust.
Either way, this one was Blowout City for the defending Division 1A state champion Lancers, a 7-0 demolition that featured six different goal scorers and a second straight shutout win, this one featuring the other half of the Lancers’ stifling goaltender duo, senior Kyle Casey (17 saves).
With the win and sweep of the best-of-three series, head coach John McLean’s Malden Catholic (15-4-3) squad advances to the semifinals against Arlington (22-2-2), which dispatched Hingham with a 4-1 win and sweep of its series Wednesday as well.
McLean said his team was excited to be able to move on. It will be the Lancers’ ninth consecutive appearance in the 1A Frozen Four.
“We’re glad to get the two points and keep playing in the next round,” McLean said. “It was great to get out in front early and then play some defense when it really counted.
“They (Marshfield) came out with some energy tonight and came right at us most of the night,” the Lancer coach added. “We were able to capitalize on our opportunities and I’m happy with the way we played.”
While Sunday’s Game One has Marshfield (19-4-2) within shouting distance of the Lancers at times, Tuesday’s contest was a mismatch from the get-go.
Malden Catholic scored on its first two shots of the night in the first three minutes of play on their way to a 2-0 first period lead on shots by Sunday’s star Matt Yianacopolus and Brendan Maloney and then never looked back. In fact, the Lancers scored on its first shot in all three periods, a good indicator of the evening’s festivities.
The Lancers’ speed advantage over their Rams opponents was a major factor. MC seemed to have two gears, fast and faster. On one crowning play in the third period, senior captain Justin Collins (one goal, three assists) seemed to reach down and use even a higher gear.
Just 10 seconds after the referees waved off another goal he appeared to have scored, Collins, all over the ice the entire game, attacked the net like a lightning strike and tucked the puck in behind Ram netminder Nick Young’s right skate to put the game even further out of reach. “We have a lot of team speed, we all can skate,” Collins said. “We just kept going the net and keep putting shots on them and it paid off.”
Sitting on a 2-0 lead after one, the Lancers again did not wait around in the second period. Collins set up teammate Joey Guarino of Malden perfectly, passing across the front of net on a two-on-two rush and Guarino hammered it home at 3:37 on the Lancers first shot of the period. Guarino would be the only two-goal scorer, connecting again in the third period.
The Lancers got a scare shortly after when forward Bernie Gillis was felled right in front of the Rams bench and Marshfield’s Ryan Sullivan was sent off for high-sticking. Gillis got up from the ice but McLean said the prognosis is not good.
“He (Gillis) might be out for the season. That was unfortunate he got hit in the head area.”
Lancers workhorse Colin Nestor of Malden blasted in goal two minutes later from Ryan Noonan and Cam Delvalle on the power play to make it 4-0, signalling a Rams timeout. MC’s Casey made several of his finest saves to close out the period and sophomore Lancer Jagger Benson of Lynnfield used some sleight of hand to fool Young and zip in the Lancers’ fifth goal for a 5-0 lead after period two with assists to Tom Albert and Nestor.
On the night, along with the six different goal-scorers, the Lancers featured 13 different players on the scoresheet. “It was great to spread it around, we worked hard and we filled the spots and took advantage of our chances,” McLean said.
