Cronin, Wolverines skate to 1-1 draw

[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]

By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor

The Medfield and Westwood High School boys varsity hockey teams took to the ice for their first of two meetings in 2017-2018 last Wednesday evening at Canton Ice House.

Thanks to a late third period goal by senior forward Sean Tyer, the Warriors (4-2-2), were able to salvage a 1-1 tie and snatched a point from the hands of the Wolverines (5-2-2, 2-2-2).

A little over four minutes into the game, Westwood goaltender Justin Anderson made a sprawling glove save on Medfield’s Shawn MacTavish to keep the game scoreless. With 6:24 to play, Anderson again saved the day for the Wolverines when the senior stuffed Tom Schofield on a mini-breakaway with the right pad and froze the puck for a whistle. Medfield continued to supply pressure in the Westwood end throughout the remainder of the period, but the Wolverines were able to thwart a tiebreaking goal and the game remained scoreless at the first intermission.

Less than three minutes into the second period with 12:02 remaining, Westwood junior forward Shane Cronin drew first blood by firing home a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle off of a cross-ice feed from Conor Donahue. Medfield was awarded two power plays throughout the remainder of the second period, but the Wolverine penalty killers did their job, and the game remained 1-0 in favor of Westwood headed into the third.

Midway through the third period with 7:50 remaining, Sean Tyer took a pass from senior forward Ryan “Py” Johnson and fired home the equalizer to knot the game at one for Medfield. Both the Warriors and Wolverines bunkered down defensively during the game’s final seven minutes and change, as neither side wanted to give an inch and allow a tie-breaking and likely game-losing goal.

The clock struck zeros, and it was a point apiece for both teams, as the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

At the time of print, the Wolverines will look to earn more critical TVL points when they host Hopkinton on January 17, while Medfield will look to do the same against Ashland on January 18.

For funny and incisive sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter at @fLAno0, or read his blog at www.flannylive.wordpress.com.