Oliver Ames goalie Jimmy Tierney redefined the term brick wall in the Division 2 MIAA Quarterfinals, making 39 saves through three periods and two overtime periods and then stoning all four shots he faced in the shootout to guide Oliver Ames to a win over Westwood.
It certainly wasn't the first heroic effort in goal for Tierney, who had a handful in his sophomore year and had a colossal game in net against Franklin just a couple weeks prior to the game against Westwood.
But Tierney's game against Westwood was arguably the best performance on ice this season - goalie or skater - in the Hockomock this year. Tierney was selected as a Hockomock League All Star and was named the HockomockSports.com Goalie of the Year for the second straight year.
As time past in the quarterfinal game between OA and Westwood, it became more and more clear that just one goal could be all that was needed to win the game. Oliver Ames and Westwood each had flashes of offense but both Tierney and Westwood goalie Will Ribas (21 saves) were up the task each time.
Josh Perry recapped the game for HockomockSports.com:
As time was winding down on the second overtime in a scoreless Division 2 South quarterfinal between Oliver Ames and Westwood at Asiaf Arena in Brockton, Tigers coach Mark Homer knew that he had an ace up his sleeve for the shootout.
“If we get to the shootout, they’ve got to go against our best player that’s out there tonight and that’s Jimmy,” he explained.
The Jimmy that Homer was referring to was junior goaltender Jimmy Tierney, who put on a display of solid work in net to make 39 saves through regulation and two overtime periods to shutout the No. 2 seed Wolverines.
“Jimmy was up for the occasion,” Homer continued. “He made everything look easy tonight. He was in his zone, he was comfortable in net. Getting to that shootout was what we were aiming for.”
It was a strategy that paid off for the Tigers, as Tierney saved all four shots that he faced in the shootout and Tyler Provost and Albert Basse each scored to send OA into the semifinal and a rematch with No. 3 Medfield.
“I know that our players are going to out the puck in the net and it’s my job to stop everything that comes my way,” said Tierney, who admitted not being a fan of the shootout despite his success in it.
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Next up for Westwood was Mike Riley and he met the same fate as the previous three shooters and had his shot saved by Tierney setting off pandemonium on the OA bench.
“I had to ask the ref actually, if I save this do we win the game and he said yeah, so the pressure was on this one,” said Tierney about the save on Riley. “I was trying to play like I normally do, you know, come out and attack the shooter and as soon as I saw that I saved the puck, it was just a rush of emotions coming through me and I wanted to get to the fans.”
For three 15-minute periods and two six-minute overtimes, Westwood High goaltender Will Ribas and Oliver Ames counterpart Jimmy Tierney stole the show in Saturday’s MIAA Division 2 South boys hockey quarterfinals at Asiaf Rink.
The two matched each other with a number of five-bell saves and kept shutouts. In a game decided by a best-of-five shootout, Tierney maintained his brick wall as the Tigers prevailed 2-0.
Westwood has its season come to an end at 16-5-1 while Oliver Ames (12-8-2) will take on Medfield in a semifinal on Thursday (5:15 p.m.) at Gallo Arena in Bourne.
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“When we got to that shootout, our confidence level just rose. Jimmy was up for the occasion. He made everything look easy tonight.”
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Honorable Mention: The Finalists
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