STONEHAM — It may not have looked like the first two iterations of the Lynnfield hockey team’s playoff wins, but the results ended up being the same as the No. 4 Pioneers picked up a 2-0 shutout victory over No. 5 Hopedale in a Division 3 quarterfinal game at Stoneham Arena Saturday evening.
Saturday was a different kind of test for Lynnfield — which won its first two playoff games by a combined score of 17-1 — as the Pioneers went up against one of the better goaltenders they’ve seen all year in Hopedale’s John Tomaso (28 saves).
“He’s a great goalie and we’ve gone up against some great goalies this year, and in situations like that you’ve just got to keep putting the puck on the net and try to simplify things,” said Lynnfield coach John Gardner. “Once we got back to the simple things like putting pucks on net and getting bodies out front, we came up with that first goal that ended up being the difference.”
Chase Carney led the way with one goal and one assist in the win for the Pioneers, while Drew Damiani scored one goal. Aidan Burke picked up two assists, while Lucas Cook had one assist. Goaltender Phineas Mitchener notched 21 saves to pick up the shutout victory in net.
“We’ve kind of had a joke going all year with Phin because he’s played great all year but he hasn’t gotten a shutout yet and our other goalie Evan Fitzemeyer has played in a couple games where we’ve gotten shutouts,” said Gardner. “So as the game started to wind down and Phin made a couple of big saves down the stretch, I looked at my coaches and asked if he saved his one shutout for this game. They all looked at me and said yes.”
The first period ended just how it began — in a stalemate. Although Lynnfield did have several great scoring opportunities throughout the frame, Tomaso turned each one away and kept the game noted at 0-0 heading into the second.
Lynnfield continued to push the pace as the second period got started, and eventually that pressure paid off. Cook took control of the puck along the boards, he sent a quick pass out to Burke, who then ripped a shot on net. Tomaso turned it away, but the rebound kicked out onto the stick of Carney, who did what he’s done all year and buried the puck in the back of the net for his 32nd goal of the season to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead.
Hopedale made a few runs at the net in the latter half of the second period and also into the third period, but Mitchener did his job well and turned away each attempt. When he needed to make a big save — like when he made a tough angle positional save in the final two minutes of the game — he always came through.
Hopedale ended up pinning its ears back, pulling its goalie and putting forth and all-out attack in the final minute of the game, but it only allowed Lynnfield to extend its lead more when Burke picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated to just outside the opposing blue line and ripped a shot into the empty net to seal the 2-0 victory for the Pioneers.
Lynnfield (19-3-1) now moves on to the Div. 3 semifinal round as one of the final four teams in the state. The Pioneers will take on Marlborough Monday night (7:45) at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.
“We watched Marlborough play on Friday night and we know that they’re an incredibly talented team,” said Gardner. “We did a good job of playing our game (Saturday) and we got a bunch of opportunities to score — and hats off to the Hopedale goalie for stopping a lot of those chances — so we’re feeling pretty good about our ability to generate offense. If we can keep bringing the defensive intensity and get the same strong goaltending on the back end, we should be in for another great game.”
