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Scarlet Knights fall to Boston Latin in North semis

LOWELL — While the defense showed up Tuesday night at the Tsongas Center, the North Andover offense was missing in action.

Minus one-third of its top skating line, eighth-seeded North Andover managed only five shots on goal in its Division 2 North Regional semifinal Tuesday night as No. 13 seed Boston Latin took advantage of the power outage to claim a 2-0 victory Tuesday night.

“We picked a bad night not to play our best game,” North Andover coach Peter Marfione said. “We were missing (senior captain) Tyler (Buonopane) tonight, but Boston Latin played better than us. They took away our offense. They limited us to under 10 shots, and you’re not going to win a game with that.

Buonopane, who is second on the team with 18 goals and 37 points, suffered a concussion in a 5-2 win over top-seeded Danvers in Friday’s quarterfinal.

North Andover (14-8-2) defeated Boston Latin (13-7-3) twice in the regular season by a combined 8-1 and had piled up 12 goals in two regional victories. But the Knights managed only one shot on net the first 12 minutes. Two of their five shots were in an eight-second span late in the first period

“We just didn’t seem to get anything going. We’ve scored (12) goals the last two games, but we just didn’t get anything going tonight. We just didn’t have it offensively.”

Even though most of the match was spent in the Knight defensive zone, Jack Walsh kept the Wolfpack in check most of the match, surviving an early first-period penalty. The junior gave up a goal midway through the second on a Nick O’Connell one-timer blasted from between the circles.

But that was the only shot that got past Walsh, as the Wolfpack added an empty-netter with 33.6 seconds remaining.

Maintaining form, the Knights were held to only one shot in the crucial third period, while Latin piled up 11 more, including three on another power-play chance that Walsh thwarted.

“It was frustrating but not as frustrating as I thought it would be,” said Walsh, who stopped 23 shots. “It wasn’t anything the team was doing. I know the effort was there. It was just that the puck wasn’t bounding our way, but that’s the stuff you have to deal with.”

Boys Ice Hockey, 03/06/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars

Late rally falls short for Rangers

BILLERICA — For a moment, it appeared Methuen may be able to finish the amazing comeback.

Brett Blackwell took a pass and fired home a goal with 0:39 left in regulation to cut what was a three-goal Rangers deficit midway through the third to just a single score.

Methuen followed that with a pair of rushes that nearly found the back of the net, and had a faceoff to the left of the Boston Latin goalie with five seconds left.

But No. 12 Methuen could not find that final goal, falling to No. 13 Boston Latin 4-3 in the Division 2 North quarterfinals at the Chelmsford Forum.

“We came out flying and we finished very well,” said Methuen coach Bill Blackwell. “But in the middle we started to make some mistakes. Those mistakes multiplied and put us in a hole. All season we have had trouble putting 45 good minutes together. But I am proud of the guys.”

For nearly two full quarters, Boston Latin appeared to be in full control. The Wolf Pack took a 4-1 lead 3:34 into the second quarter, and dominated the puck and the momentum.

The Rangers, however, would not go away quietly.

First, Brett Blackwell hauled in a loose puck in his zone and floated a perfect pass to Matt Horan, who was breaking towards the goal. Horan did the rest, faking out the goalie and burying the puck to make it 4-2 with 8:12 left.

Then, with 0:39 remaining, Horan set up Blackwell for his goal to make it a one-score game. But a few final attempts were saved by the Latin goal, and time expired.

“We were playing like gangbusters in the final minutes,” said Bill Blackwell. “But time just ran out on us tonight.”

Methuen was actually the enforcer out of the gates. The Rangers came out flying, controlling the puck and delivering a few big hits. Ryan Mackey gave the Rangers the lead 4:21 into play when he buried a rebound in front of the net.

But Boston Latin responded with two goals just 1:34 apart to take a 2-1 lead.

“We had talked about putting pressure on their defense and getting them off balance early,” said Bill Blackwell. “But once they settled in, they started controlling the game a little, and we started committing turnovers.”

With the loss, Methuen ended its season at 11-8-3. The Rangers made the playoffs for the second straight season after not making it the previous four years, and their record was one win shy of last season’s 12-5-4 mark, the team’s best since the Eagle-Tribune began keeping records in 1995-96.

With his goal and assist, Blackwell finishes his senior season 20 goals and 45 points, both team-highs. Horan’s score was his 17th of the season, while Mackey scored his 13th goal.

Goalie Eddie Mrozowski also impressed in just over 26 minutes of action. He made 18 saves and did not allow a goal.

“We told the guys that this is where we want to be at the end of the year, in the tournament,” said coach Blackwell. “I told the guys they should walk out of here with their heads up because they had a great year. These juniors and senior have really rejuvenated the program. This group was amazing, and hopefully we can continue this path and be back at the party every year.”

Boys Ice Hockey, 03/02/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars

Lucy takes over

North Andover scoring sensation Matt Lucy scored two of his three goals in the final minute of the second period to help his Knights pick up a 5-1 win over Boston Latin. Trailing 1-0 after the first period, goalie Jack Walsh (33 saves) made some huge stops to keep NA within striking distance.

Boys Ice Hockey, 01/27/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars

Bravo, Bravo

Andover's Catherine Bravo had two clutch fre throws down the stretch and scored 14 points to pace the Austin Prep girls to a 53-47 victory over Hamilton-Wenham. Lawrence's Julie Torres chipped in with seven points.

Boys Ice Hockey, 12/30/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars

First start, first win for Walsh

Making his first career varsity start, junior goalie Jack Walsh pitched a shutout with 26 saves for North Andover in a season-opening win (3-0). Matt Lucy, Tyler Bounapane and Zach Keating all scored for the Knights.

Boys Ice Hockey, 12/13/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars

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