FRANKLIN, Mass. - Oliver Ames went 2-3 on the power play and broke open a tie game in the second period with two goals on just five shots, as the Tigers capitalized on their chances to advance past Hockomock rival Milford 4-2 in the first round of the Division 2 South sectional on Wednesday night at Pirelli Veterans Memorial Arena.
“We knew going in that it was going to be tough with Jimmy [Tierney] in net,” said Milford coach Mike Balzarini. “The last time we played them we only got one goal. We did have our chances, but they capitalized.”
First-year OA coach Mark Homer remarked, “Milford’s a tough team, they make you work so hard. You tell guys just stay balanced. Don’t get too high; don’t get too low. It’s a long game.”
That turned out to be sage advice because this was a game that had a number of twists and turns.
After Michael Carroll buried a one-timer off a feed from Chandler McLaughlin to put the Tigers in front just 4:08 into the game, junior leading scorer Tyler Provost, who had just returned from injury, thought he had made it two.
Shorthanded, he took the puck at his own blue line and made two quick moves to slither past three Milford defensive players before a quick drag move as he entered the Hawks zone made it a one-on-one with the goalie. It was a great move, but Provost’s shot smashed the post (OA fans believed that it hit the back post and bounced out).
Just 20 seconds later and Griffin Lynch score a power play goal on a rebound to make it 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
OA would bounce back in the second and score a pair of goals, despite having only five shots in the period. Carroll got his second of the night to make it 2-1 as he redirected a shot from the point by Thomas McCormack (three assists).
Then, as the clock ran down in the second period, Milford had a great opportunity to tie the game, but Jimmy Tierney was able to get a pad down to the point-blank shot and turn it aside. The rebound came to Thomas McCormack who quickly hit an outlet pass to Matt Campanella.
The senior forward took the puck the length of the ice split the defensemen and roofed his shot over Milford goalie Brian Ireland (21 saves) for what turned out to be the game-winning goal with just 59 seconds remaining in the period. In the blink of an eye, the game went from being potentially tied to the Tigers comfortably in control.
“It’s that type of game -- it’s a transition game,” said Balzarini about the sequence. “We had a great chance and he made a great pad save and the puck came out and they had great transition through the neutral zone. Campanella, he made my ‘D’ look foolish…to be honest with you he did. It was a great move, great shot.”
First-year Oliver Ames coach Mark Homer added, “It was at the end of the period. It was a 2-1 game until that goes in and now it’s 3-1 you’re going into the locker room and you can tell they were a little letdown when they got back on the ice.”
The third period started off with Oliver Ames in complete control, but this time it was the Tigers that struggled to find the finishing touch. Campanella rang the bar after Ireland stopped Provost on a two on one and then Ireland came through again to save another breakaway by Nick Charleston. OA would finish with 13 shots in the third, six more than any other period in the game.
Homer explained, “We did tell the guys in the locker room that this is all or nothing. We’re not going to sit back on this lead. The guys had been playing well and getting better with each period…and we told them that we need to get that next goal.”
Despite the good start to the period by OA, it would be Milford that would score next. Lynch found the Hockomock League’s leading scorer Brad White open in the slot and the senior marksman fired his shot over the glove of Tierney (24 saves) to make it 3-2 with 9:29 remaining.
But again the momentum did not last long as just 1:08 later the lead was back to two goals. Ireland made a double save to stop McCormack from in close but the rebound fell to Provost, who smashed it into the open net for the second power play game of the day for the Tigers.
“They had two power play goals and we only had one and that’s usually something that we’re good at,” said Balzarini. “They were aggressive on the penalty kill and I think we were looking for that perfect shot or perfect pass in front and it didn’t pan out.”
Homer was pleased with the way his team came out defensively to slow down the high-powered Milford attack led by White, Drew Wylde, and Jared Balzarini.
“We did a good job shutting down the neutral zone,” he noted. “It was all about making their good players work and not giving them space and I thought we did a good job gapping up…It worked tonight.”
Oliver Ames will advance to play the winner of Westwood and Pembroke at a location and time to be determined.
Josh Perry can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.