When you attend an Oliver Ames playoff hockey game, you don’t always set out to write about Jimmy Tierney.
For most of the night, the story was going to be about Tyler Provost, the senior forward who went from being HockomockSports.com Player of the Year to not even a league all-star due to a boxer’s break in his wrist that he battled all season. The story was going to be about how he left it all on the ice in what could have been his final, and maybe his best, game for the Tigers.
“I realized it was my last chance of the season,” said Provost after the game, “so I put it all out there while I could. We wanted to use the body and let them know we were there.”
He also scored the lone goal for OA in an epic 16-round shootout that pitted players on both teams that had not even seen the ice against two of the top goalies in Div. 2. Provost gave a beautiful deke to get Medway’s Mike Purnell down on the ice and then roofed a backhand.
Provost explained, “You just got to study the goalie and know what his weaknesses are. It was tough. I was going to shoot and he gave me no angle, so I went for the deke and I was hoping for the best and it went in.”
Oliver Ames coach Mark Homer said of his captain, “I thought he really turned the jets on. He tells me before the game that he’s a playoff guy… I thought that was one of his best games out there. He was so determined.”
“I thought we played a solid, consistent game,” said Homer. “The forecheck I thought worked very well we bottled stuff up. We created chances and gave ourselves chances to score goals.”
He added, “I thought we played great and it’s too bad we didn’t win it in regulation time, but we had some opportunities. I can’t ask any more of the kids.”
The story could also have been about senior defensemen Albert Basse, Thomas McCormack, and Daniel Sullivan, who kept tabs on the Mustangs forwards, blocked shots, and were willing to take hits to clear the puck. Or senior captain Tim Doherty, who forced turnovers on the forecheck and kept Medway pinned back in the third period.
Instead, this story is about Jimmy Tierney. The senior and three-time HockomockSports.com Goalie of the Year made a great save to stop Kevin Kaufman in the first period with Basse on hand to clear the rebound. In the second, he made a big stop on a point-blank shot by Vinny Parlato.
Those were just hints at what Tierney had in store. As Medway pressured in the final minute of the game in search of a winner, Tierney saved the season by robbing Cole Fisher with a kick save that drew amazed gasps from the Medfield faithful in the press box above the ice.
Tierney was able to stop his momentum as he went to the far post on the first shot and then kicked out a right leg to get a toe on the deflection that was no more than three feet in front of him.
“We all have a lot of confidence in him,” said Provost about his classmate. “We’ve been through a lot in the playoffs so we have trust in him that he’s going give his best.”
In overtime, he was even better. He made eight saves in the opening three minutes of the first six-minute overtime and would go on to make 14 saves overall to send the game to a shootout. OA managed only one shot on goal in the overtime periods, although one outlet pass nearly picked out Doherty during the 4 on 4 that would have been a breakaway, but it slipped just under his stick.
The shootout was one for the record books. Both teams used 16 skaters and the 32 attempts ended with only three goals. Provost scored on OA’s second attempt and Tierney made an amazing diving save with his glove and saw a shot sail wide. It was all set up for him to win it, but Mike Boldy kept the game alive with a goal.
From that point on both Tierney and Purnell were brick walls. They made kick saves, stick saves, poke checks, and gloved the occasional wrister. As the shootout continued to drag, with the occasional break as the officials figured out how to proceed, both teams were forced to go deep into the bench.
“You want to end it in the top five, believe me, but the positive side is that everybody on the bench had a chance in an important game to be part of something,” said Homer. “They all had something to be proud of. The whole team had a part of this tonight.”
It would be a freshman that decided the outcome -- with his first varsity goal. Ben Giovanella went high to the glove side and spun off wildly towards the bench when his shot hit the back of the net.
Tierney punched the air with his glove in frustration and then sank down onto his pads. After the handshake line, he skated alone back to the net area where his teammates surrounded him. After they skated to the bench, Tierney waited until the ref told him it was time.
“He did everything he could, both goalies did,” Homer said, “but I thought Jimmy made some unbelievable stops. He was in the zone…like he usually is in those situations.”
Homer explained, “You get so kicked up in those situations….a lot of kids can’t play under those conditions -- Jimmy lives for those situations.
It was the kind of night that none of these players would ever forget.
Provost said, “It’s definitely tough to lose, but if you’re going to go down you might as well go down in a shootout like that. We have to keep our heads up.”
“I mean these guys are going to be sitting years from now and talking about this game and that’s what it’s about,” Homer reflected. “It’s about creating those memories and enjoying the good times…We battled all year and took it right to the end.”
Josh Perry can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.