Game of the Week
Hockey: #10 Oliver Ames vs. #7 Milford (@ Franklin)
With the amount of teams that come out of the Hockomock
League and into the playoffs, especially the D2 South, it was almost inevitable
that two teams would be matched up. It literally happened in every single round
last year: twice in the first round (Milford/North, KP/Mansfield), once in the
quarterfinals (North/Canton) and then both semifinals (Canton/OA,
Franklin/Mansfield) and of course the D2 South Finals (Franklin/OA). This year,
it’s picked up right where it left off as #10 Oliver Ames (10-8-2) will be on
the road as they take on #7 Milford (12-6-2) at Pirelli Rink in Frankin.
Being league rivals means that the teams have already played at least once during the regular season. That meeting between the Tigers and the Scarlet Hawks came on January 29th, and OA skated away with a 4-1 road win over Milford. Matt Campanella scored twice in the win that propelled Oliver Ames on a five game win streak. Since those five wins, though, the Tigers are 0-4 with just one goal scored. The loss didn’t help Milford much, as they finished their season 4-3 after that game but netted 32 goals in those seven games.
The puck drops at 6:00PM on Wednesday at Pirelli Rink in Franklin.
Players to Watch
After having the top scoring offense in the league this year, Milford’s players to watch start with the forwards. First, you have to start with Brad White, who led the entire league in scoring this season with a league-high 25 goals and he added 16 assists for 41 points. He’s a quick forward and very skilled with the puck on his stick. A main reason that White is successful is classmate and line mate Jared Balzarini. Balzarini fished atop the league in assists at 23 and a total of 37 players – only two players scored more than Balzarini that weren’t Brad White. Balzarini can beat defenseman one on one and when the help comes over, he has the ability to set up White. If having two of the top four scorers in the league wasn’t enough for the Scarlet Hawk offense, add in junior Drew Wilde who exploded for 35 points this season behind 20 goals and 15 points. Defensively, Milford hasn’t had as much success as they have offensively but sophomore goalie Brian Ireland does have three shutouts this season. Defenseman Sean Burns, a junior, is a big physical presence for the Scarlet Hawks and junior Sam Croteau has proved he can step up and contribute offensively too with 18 points.
Oliver Ames will be looking to bounce back after four straight losses. The last time the Tigers won, it was goalie Jimmy Tierney that stole the headlines and the two points from Franklin. Tierney had another ironman season, playing the entire way through minus a few minutes of being pulled and posted a .909 save percentage and had a 2.40 goals against average. The main focus for OA will be finding something on offense after just scoring once in their last four games. With junior Tyler Provost and his 29 points not at 100%, as well as fellow captain Tim Doherty and his 15 points, it looks as though the Tigers will have to come up with yet another top line this season. Expect Matt Campanella (21 points), Colin Lozzi (15 points) and Cam Gallagher to be starting points up front while junior Chandler McLaughlin has shown a nose for the goal at times this season (see Franklin game). On defense, junior Albert Basse has emerged as a two-way threat and has shown great vision when looking up the ice. Junior Thomas McCormack has good size and freshman Jared Costello has been impressive in his time in the second half of the season.
Being league rivals means that the teams have already played at least once during the regular season. That meeting between the Tigers and the Scarlet Hawks came on January 29th, and OA skated away with a 4-1 road win over Milford. Matt Campanella scored twice in the win that propelled Oliver Ames on a five game win streak. Since those five wins, though, the Tigers are 0-4 with just one goal scored. The loss didn’t help Milford much, as they finished their season 4-3 after that game but netted 32 goals in those seven games.
The puck drops at 6:00PM on Wednesday at Pirelli Rink in Franklin.
Players to Watch
After having the top scoring offense in the league this year, Milford’s players to watch start with the forwards. First, you have to start with Brad White, who led the entire league in scoring this season with a league-high 25 goals and he added 16 assists for 41 points. He’s a quick forward and very skilled with the puck on his stick. A main reason that White is successful is classmate and line mate Jared Balzarini. Balzarini fished atop the league in assists at 23 and a total of 37 players – only two players scored more than Balzarini that weren’t Brad White. Balzarini can beat defenseman one on one and when the help comes over, he has the ability to set up White. If having two of the top four scorers in the league wasn’t enough for the Scarlet Hawk offense, add in junior Drew Wilde who exploded for 35 points this season behind 20 goals and 15 points. Defensively, Milford hasn’t had as much success as they have offensively but sophomore goalie Brian Ireland does have three shutouts this season. Defenseman Sean Burns, a junior, is a big physical presence for the Scarlet Hawks and junior Sam Croteau has proved he can step up and contribute offensively too with 18 points.
Oliver Ames will be looking to bounce back after four straight losses. The last time the Tigers won, it was goalie Jimmy Tierney that stole the headlines and the two points from Franklin. Tierney had another ironman season, playing the entire way through minus a few minutes of being pulled and posted a .909 save percentage and had a 2.40 goals against average. The main focus for OA will be finding something on offense after just scoring once in their last four games. With junior Tyler Provost and his 29 points not at 100%, as well as fellow captain Tim Doherty and his 15 points, it looks as though the Tigers will have to come up with yet another top line this season. Expect Matt Campanella (21 points), Colin Lozzi (15 points) and Cam Gallagher to be starting points up front while junior Chandler McLaughlin has shown a nose for the goal at times this season (see Franklin game). On defense, junior Albert Basse has emerged as a two-way threat and has shown great vision when looking up the ice. Junior Thomas McCormack has good size and freshman Jared Costello has been impressive in his time in the second half of the season.
Poll
Game of the Week - The Pick
| HockomockSports.com Hockey Picks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ryan Lanigan |
Josh Perry |
Michael Antonellis |
Cameron Merritt |
Jeff Pickette |
Chris McDaniel |
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| Hockomock Sports |
Hockomock Sports |
Hockomock Sports |
Hockomock Sports |
Stoughton Media Access |
The Enterprise |
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| Oliver Ames vs. Milford Wednesday, 6:00 |
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| Total | Lanigan 24-4-3 |
Perry 25-3-3 |
Antonellis 20-8-3 |
Merritt 15-13-3 |
Pickette 17-11-3 |
McDaniel 18-10-3 |
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| HockomockSports.com Boys Basketball Picks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ryan Lanigan |
Josh Perry |
Michael Antonellis |
Cameron Merritt |
Jeff Pickette |
Chris McDaniel |
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| Hockomock Sports |
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Stoughton Media Access |
The Enterprise |
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| Total | Lanigan 36-8 |
Perry 37-7 |
Antonellis 33-11 |
Merritt 29-15 |
Pickette 29-15 |
McDaniel 29-15 |
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| HockomockSports.com Girls Basketball Picks | ||||||||||
| Ryan Lanigan |
Josh Perry |
Michael Antonellis |
Cameron Merritt |
Jeff Pickette |
Chris McDaniel |
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| Hockomock Sports |
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Stoughton Media Access |
The Enterprise |
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| Total | Lanigan 31-11 |
Perry 34-8 |
Antonellis 17-25 |
Merritt 25-17 |
Pickette 26-16 |
McDaniel 24-18 |
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Previous Games of the Week
January 10th, 2014: Mansfield @ Franklin Boys Basketball
January 18th, 2014: Canton @ Oliver Ames Hockey
January 24th, 2014: All Basketball & Hockey Games
January 29th, 2014: Franklin @ Mansfield Hockey
January 31st, 2014: Attleboro vs. Sharon Girls & Boys Basketball
February 7th & 8th: Mansfield @ Taunton Boys Basketball/Mansfield @ Canton Hockey
February 21st, 2014: King Philip @ North Attleboro Hockey
January 18th, 2014: Canton @ Oliver Ames Hockey
January 24th, 2014: All Basketball & Hockey Games
January 29th, 2014: Franklin @ Mansfield Hockey
January 31st, 2014: Attleboro vs. Sharon Girls & Boys Basketball
February 7th & 8th: Mansfield @ Taunton Boys Basketball/Mansfield @ Canton Hockey
February 21st, 2014: King Philip @ North Attleboro Hockey