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By Josh Perry
Hometown Weekly Staff
The Medfield High boys’ hockey team will make its second trip to the Div. 2 state championship game at the TD Garden in three years after the Warriors held off Scituate for a 2-1 win in the South sectional final on Sunday afternoon at the Gallo Ice Arena in Bourne.
The Warriors did not take lightly the challenge of facing Scituate, which came into the playoffs as the No. 10 seed but defeated expected title challengers Medway, Bishop Feehan, and Canton on the way to the final, and were forced to battle right to the final horn.
“That’s an extremely well-coached team,” said Medfield coach Toby Carlow, “and you’d be hard-pressed to find one that works harder that’s for sure. We knew we were in for a fight from the start of that game and they certainly didn’t disappoint.”
He added, “I’m just happy that at the end of the 15 minutes we had a one-goal lead.”
The Sailors came in as underdogs against the top seeded Warriors but dominated the first period, outshooting Medfield 13-7 in the first. Senior goalie Matt Malvese made an impressive double save on Jake Mccarthy and then defenseman Nick Wheeler blocked a chance in front and saw the puck trickle inches wide of the post.
Those missed opportunities hurt Scituate, as with 5:26 left in the period, Matt Treiber raced into the zone and fired a shot on goal from a tight angle. The Scituate goalie was anticipating a pass from that position and the shot beat him at the near post to make it 1-0 against the run of play.
Treiber said, “In practice, this week especially, we just started throwing pucks at the net and crashing hard. We got a good bounce and it went in.”
Carlow added, “It just shows what one goal can do. We just need to get the puck to the net sometimes and hope for the best. Then you can exhale a little bit, everyone relaxes a little bit, and we can play and we can do this.”
The Sailors nearly tied it early in the second but a wrap around chance somehow stopped in between Malvese’s pads and the goalie was able to react and smother the shot.
With 3:20 left in the second, Medfield made it 2-0. John MacLean battled behind the net for a loose puck and centered it to freshman Brian Abely in the slot. He tok a touch before firing a wrister to the glove side.
Scituate did not go quietly. The Sailors cut the lead in half with 10:49 left when a shot from the blue line snuck past an unsighted Malvese. Although the goal put momentum firmly with Scituate, Carlow and the Warriors could count on experienced heads at the back to see it out.
“It’s one of those invaluable things on a hockey team,” said Carlow about having Malvese back for his second year between the pipes. You have a kid coming back and he’s been, maybe not to here, but he’s been in the playoffs, he’s been in those big games and the guys in front of him have confidence because…it’s Matt.”
The Warriors continued to do enough in the closing minutes, tying up pucks against the boards, keeping the puck out of the middle, and limiting the Sailors to shots from the outside.
Treiber explained, “Inside out, play defense in front of our net first and then if it goes out play hard on the boards, but once again it’s hard work - that’s all it comes down to.”
At the final buzzer, the players raced onto the ice with gloves, helmets and stick flying through the air to celebrate another chance to play for the state title (Medfield lost 2-1 to Beverly in 2014).
Carlow said, “There’s six guys that played and there were a handful of guys that were on the team…the routine that you get over there is not going to be overwhelming again. They’re going to do what they do. It’s big lights, big time and here we go.”
One of those making his second trip will be Treiber and he explained, “It feels awesome. I couldn’t be happier to go to the Garden my senior year. Being an upperclassman and leading my team as a senior is something special. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.”
Medfield will face North champion Lincoln-Sudbury in the state championship game next Sunday at a time to be determined.
Josh Perry is an Editor at Hometown Weekly. He can be reached at news@hometownweekly.net and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.
