FILE PHOTO
Jagger Benson and the Malden Catholic Lancers fell to Arlington, 2-1, at the Tsongas Center.
By STEVE FREKER
LOWELL— You had to like Malden Catholic’s chances as regulation time disappeared and the “score-or-go-home” period arrived in Wednesday night’s Division 1A Super Eight semifinal.
The Lancers’ brand of skate fast, score quickly offense coupled with its brick wall goaltending lines up well with overtime hockey.
The Arlington High Spy Ponders and senior forward Kevin Ouellette had other ideas.
Just 35 seconds into the second overtime, Ouellette made a blink-of-the-eye move where he seemed to skate one step past the Lancer net, only to whip his stick back and stuff in the game-winning goal in a dramatic, 2-1 upset win at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.
Ouellette’s electrifying score propelled Arlington (23-2-2) into its first-ever Super Eight Championship Game, where it will take on Central Catholic for the 2017 crown. The loss ends a seven-straight-finals run by Malden Catholic (15-5-3), which will sit out the title game for the first time since 2009.
“We lost to a really good team that played a great game,” Malden Catholic head coach John McLean, who’s skippered the Lancers to Super Eight championship wins in five of the past six seasons, said of Arlington, a team that has not once trailed in the Super Eight tournament this postseason.
“They (Arlington) stuck to their system, generated some quality opportunities late and then finished the job (in double overtime),” McLean added. “Both teams had quality opportunities, but they had the best one at the end.”
Both goaltenders were sensational, with Arlington’s Jack Pinard (33 saves) and Malden Catholic’s Brian Cannata (28 saves) trading highlight reel stops all night.
Arlington head coach John Messuri, who will be leading his second team to a TD Garden title shot (his former Winchester team was No. 11 seed in Division 1 in 2001) and himself played playoff hockey in the Garden in the 1980s, said he was thrilled for his team and his town after the win.
“Obviously this is beyond special. (MC’s) John McLean is the best coach out there right now and they are the best hockey program in the state and it took all of our efforts and every one of our players to earn this,” Messuri said.
The Arlington coach said he was proud of the way his team fought back after Lancer freshman forward Alex Nazarian tied the game at 1-1 with 12:10 left to play in regulation. “We could have let down there, but we didn’t. I think we played harder,” Messuri said. “It’s been the same all postseason, when we get pushed, we push back harder.”
The third period was an even one, with MC finally breaking the ice and knotting it up on a Nazarian stuff shot in the third. The first overtime period, played at 4-on-4, featured exactly one shot on net apiece as the two teams played a chess match. “We set up our plays and tried not to rush it,” McLean said.
“We were nervous about that (OT) since we are well aware at how fast they can score,” Messuri said.
The Ponders did not wait around in the second OT.
“We were just hoping to get into their zone quickly and we got there right away,” Ouellette said, “I got a great pass from Jeff (MacDonald) and I went five hole. “MC’s the best out there and we knew we had to play our best to knock them off. We’re rolling as a team,hopefully we got one more in us.”
The first period was either a game of who would flinch first, or make the first mistake. Both teams put nearly a dozen quality shots on net and both Pinard and Cannata were up the task. Pinard made some super early saves on a screened shot by Lancer sophomore Jagger Benson of Lynnfield at 5:28 and then about a minute later on another shot in traffic by Malden Catholic senior Brendan Maloney.
On the other end, Cannata was tested twice midway through the period by Arlington’s postseason scoring leader and senior captain Peter Scheschareg whose slapper at 8:27 was deflected away followed by a skate save less than a minute later. Both teams did a good job clearing the puck after shots with rebounds a scarce commodity.
The Spy Ponders appeared to make the potential fateful flinch when Ponder freshman Brendan Jones was whistled off for a cross checking penalty at 12:25 when he dumped fellow frosh Nazarian in front of the Lancer bench. Jones himself had been slammed cleanly by Lancer Jack Sullivan seconds earlier and could have been seeking payback.
The Lancers did not waste time with no less than five sniper shots on Pinard from Malden Catholic’s power play, with Maloney, senior forward Joey Guarino and senior captain Matt Yianacopolus putting on the most dangerous attempts.
Just 33 seconds after the penalty expired, Arlington shattered the scoring deadlock when Scheschareg broke free, skated behind the Lancer net and put a pass right on the stick of senior forward Mike Curran all alone in front. Curran roofed it for the one score of the period for either team, a huge one, at 14:25.
The second period found the ice tilted the Lancers way as Malden Catholic spent plenty of time in the Arlington end and kept banging on the door but got no answer as Pinard stood tall throughout. The Lancers continued to put ultra-quality shots on net, outshooting the Ponders 12-5, with Pinard doing work with 12 high-end saves. The Lancers kept Arlington’s offense on ice, with three of the Ponders’ five shots for the period of the shorthanded variety, all from Scheschareg, who thrice nearly dealt what would have been a big blow had he connected. MC’s Cannata held the fort, however, as his teammates continued to launch assaults in the other end.
Yianacopolus was front-and-center for the Lancers for the entire period, setting up a pair of golden shots for teammates, but wide shots silenced those bids. Arlington also tempted fate twice by taking untimely penalties, but the Ponders’ penalty-kill unit was up to par. Combining with Pinard to keep a goose egg on the Lancer side of the scoreboard.
In one telling sequence, on the Lancers’ second power play of the period, at 12:13, Yianacopolus fired a trademark missile from the right point, which Pinard deflected with his stick. Then, first Guarino, then senior Tom Albert fired rebound lasers which Pinard knocked away or swallowed up with his glove.
MC’s McLean said the loss hurts deeply, but the Lancers will be back. “As painful as this is, and it’s going to hurt for awhile, we will be back. We have a young team overall and our goalie tonight (Cannata) was a junior, so we go back to work and hopefully we will be right back in this spot next season,” he said.
In the first game, after a scoreless deadlock in regulation, it took just 35 seconds into overtime for Central Catholic to leap into its first-ever MIAA Division 1A Super Eight Championship Final when Troy Manta flipped in his own rebound for a 1-0 victory over BC High.
