HOPEDALE, Mass. - In Milford’s home opener at their brand new rink located in Hopedale , the Attleboro Blue Bombardiers rallied late and squeaked out a 3-3 tie against Milford.
The first period was relatively quiet from both teams, as they both had trouble passing which caused lots of neutral zone turnovers. With 9:52 left in the first period Milford’s Jared Balzarini poked the puck in past the Attleboro goaltender to make it 1-0 Milford. Attleboro remained quiet offensively through most of the first 15 minutes of play.
In the second period, Milford tacked on another goal on a shot from defensemen Sean Burns. Burns flicked the puck toward the net from the blue line and it deflected off of Attleboro goalie Andrew Campion’s shoulder and rolled into the net. The goal made it 2-0 Milford with 7:02 left in the second period. Despite multiple chances by both teams, both Campion and Brian Ireland made great saves and Milford led 2-0 after two periods.
Going into the third period, Milford looked to keep their one goal lead,but Attleboro didn’t roll over and quit. A power play goal from Tyler Dutremble with 10:30 to go in the game made it 2-1 Milford. But just two minutes later on a shorthanded breakaway, Matt Nilan of Milford put one top shelf making it 3-1 Milford. But throughout the rest of the third period, Milford was in detrimental penalty trouble.
“We definitely took way too many penalties at the end,” said senior Brad White. “We definitely let that one get away from us.”
The man-advantage, and sometimes two-man advantage for Attleboro, helped them tack on two more goals. One with 6:36 left to play in a scrum in front of the net by Seth Lombardy made it 3-2 and the final goal by Chad Nadeau with four minutes to play in the game sealed the tie for Attleboro.
“One thing I have always stressed is that we don’t want to lose third periods,” said Milford head coach Mike Balzarini. “And that one we lost 3-1.”
Attleboro head coach Mike Cripps stressed the importance of getting in front of the net to get easy goals late in the game.
“They finally did take everything to the net,” said Cripps. “And we got some of those dirty goals.”
The late game collapse by Milford paired with Attleboro’s execution in the third period is what led to the stunning 3-3 tie.
“I am very pleased with the effort in the third period,” Cripps added. “You have to dig deep and win the battles.”
Attleboro will be back in action on Thursday when they host Silver Lake in a non-league match up at 3:10. The Scarlet Hawks won’t be in action again until 2014, when they travel to Taunton on January 4th at 2:00.
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