Franklin, Mass. – An early goal stunned the packed house at the Pirelli Rink and had the visitors thinking of an upset over the team that has won the past two Division 2 sectional titles.
Those thoughts were short-lived. Franklin scored five straight goals and cruised into the second round.
Cam Curley scored twice and Devon Maloof made 25 saves as the Panthers eliminated Plymouth South with a 5-1 victory. It was the third consecutive season that Franklin has knocked South out of the postseason.
Franklin head coach Chris Spillane, while admitting it was not a perfect performance, was pleased with the effort of his team after losing the final two games of the regular season.
“The guys that we need to score goals, scored goals for us tonight, which is good,” he said. “Any time you give a goal up 2-3 minutes into the game, you think ok not tonight, but our kids never stopped playing. They played hard. It was a good win for us.”
Plymouth South junior Erik Giannelli silenced the huge and partisan Franklin crowd with a goal just 1:19 into the game. Rather than dropping their heads, the Panthers stormed back and outshot South 15-4 for the period (41-26 for the game).
Just minutes after missing two chances on a breakaway, senior forward Pat Slason tapped in a rebound on a shot by Kyle Powers to even the score at 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
The second period was more even, Spillane called it “sloppy” for Franklin, but Franklin scored twice to take control. Curley notched his first on a feed from fellow captain Mike Patjane in the slot. The Panthers sniper fired a shot under the crossbar. With three minutes left in the period and South on the power play, Patjane tipped a puck at the blue line and raced in for a shorthanded breakaway goal that made it 3-1.
Spillane called that goal the turning point for Franklin and the third period seemed far more comfortable for the Panthers. Troy Donahue scored to make it 4-1 with 8:55 remaining and five minutes later Curley smashed an unstoppable one-timer off the post to wrap up the victory.
Curley’s performance drew positive feedback from his coach and not just for the goals that he scored.
“We talked about that for us to be successful, it has to come off his stick and it did tonight,” explained Spillane. “The typical Cam Curley play was when we were shorthanded and, I think, he killed about 45 seconds behind their goal and was being hit and never gave up. That’s the Cam Curley we need to show up for the next couple of games.”
Franklin will play the winner of no. 2 seed Martha’s Vineyard and no. 15 seed Dedham, which will be played on Thursday on the Vineyard. The Panthers are also awaiting news on Patjane, who was injured in the third period and helped off the ice.