Medfield fans packed Rink 2 of the world-renown Foxboro Sports Center on Sunday night for the Junior High championship game, looking for back-to-back 6th grade championships for Medfield, and the first of two for the night, preceding the Medfield 8th grade team’s own championship game. The 6th grade team came into the contest sporting a league-best 15-6-1 record, having held onto first place in the standings since the first weeks of the season, with a +55 goal differential on the shoulders of goalies Alex Bird and Jacob Mula.
Medfield’s path to the final started with a first-round bye and second-round overtime thriller in 3-on-3 sudden death when Owen Fessenden fired a one-timer from Avery Stein to beat the Franklin goalie and send the team onto the final against the Taunton Tigers, who finished third overall in the standings.
Taunton scored the championship game’s first goal at 7:52 in the first period, putting Medfield in the hole for the first time in the game despite a prototypical high-pressure forecheck. Avery Stein opened the scoring for Medfield in the opening minute of the second, popping the puck over the Taunton goalie’s head on Ryan Mahan’s nifty back-hand, behind-the-net pass.
90-seconds later, Stein scored again, putting in his own rebound, giving Medfield a 2-1 lead, but Taunton scored the next three goals, putting Medfield in a two-goal deficit on a short-handed tip-in with 13 minutes to play in the game.
The raucous Medfield fans seemed set on willing their team back into it with a chant of “It’s not over!”, that fueled full-throttle play over the game's final minutes.
Cooper Baughman’ hard-nosed attack led to some extracurricular activity, and a 5-on-5 with two in the box for each team. The energy translated to Stein’s third goal of the game, tucking in a rebound on Callan Carey’s blue line wrister, as the electric “It’s not over!” chant returned from the home team’s cheering section.
Medfield’s equalizer came from Fessenden’s stick off a Stein rebound that sent Medfield’s fans into a frenzy. Bird did the rest, icing numerous Taunton shots with excellent glove, blocker and pad saves for the remainder of the third, and a scoreless 4-on-4 five-minute overtime period, giving the Warriors a puncher’s chance in the upcoming three-player shoot-out.
In the opening attempt, Bird stoned the Tiger’s ace, stabbed a glove save on the righty’s laser wrist shot. Stein tightly tucked the puck around the goalie for his fourth of the night after a perfectly-timed deke, putting Medfield up 1-0.
Taunton scored on their second shot, and Leah Carlon’s attempt barely missed, wide right. Knotted at one with two skaters left, Bird made his final save of the season, easily steering away a low attempt, to an eruption from the Medfield supporters, setting the stage for Medfield's third and final attempt. The euphoric crowd suddenly hushed, with all eyes on Fessenden as he picked up the mid-ice puck at speed, stick-handling cleanly down center ice, showing backhand before rifling a picture-perfect outside skate lefty stick-side wrister for the win, and the championship. The Warriors were swallowed by their loyal fans for a locker room celebration to the team’s anthem, Katy Perry’s California Girls.
Pictured:
Goaltender: Alex Bird. Bottom row, left to right: Beckett Storer, Nolan O’Keefe, Owen Fessenden, Owen Kelly, John Hay. Middle row, left to right: Mike Mahoney, Cameron Filice, Sam Paris, Will Teachout, Callan Carey, Tyler Marshall, Jack Fratalillo, Avery Stein, Leah Carlson, Evan Kemmerer. Back row, left to right: Ryan Mahan, Cooper Baughman, Jackson ‘Shaugenss’ Shaugnessy, Tyler Zannella. Coaches, left to right: Andy Stein, Chris Storer, Tim Fessenden
Not pictured: Goaltender: Jacob Mula. Skaters: Max Abramson, Kevin Duggan. Coach: John Fratalillo
