Red Devils Punch Their Playoff Ticket at the Ice Palace

There was plenty to celebrate about for the boys’ hockey team Saturday night as they shutout the visiting Lexington Minutemen with a 4-0 win. The team honored their nine seniors in between the first and second periods, as it was their last home game in a Red Devils jersey. The two points earned with the win also were enough to qualify Burlington for the MIAA state tournament, extending the season at least a little bit longer for the Red Devils.

“It really was a nice night for the seniors,” noted Burlington head coach Bob Conceison. “I thought all nine of them player really well too, but it was just nice that we could get a win on senior night and clinch our spot in the playoffs at the same time.”

After failing to clinch their spot Wednesday night with a 3-0 loss to Winchester, the Red Devils seemed determined to get the monkey off their back on home ice. They wasted little time grabbing the lead as a pair of seniors connected just 27 seconds after the drop of the puck to put BHS up 1-0. Captains Joey Centrella and Chris Irwin executed a perfect 2-on-1 play that Irwin finished off, kicking off what went on to be a memorable senior night.

The Red Devils finished off a dominating first period by adding a second goal at the 12:49 mark. Centrella struck this time on the powerplay, walking into the high slot with the puck and unloading a wrist shot that beat Lexington goaltender Cam Massie to the blocker side.

The Minutemen came out strong in the second period, picking up their physical play and pushing hard to get back in the game. Burlington was able to regain the momentum once again though late in the period when they scored two quick goals to put the game out of reach for their opponents.

Centrella struck first when he one-timed a feed from senior Kyle Crowley past Massie to put BHS up 3-0. Just 29 seconds later senior Chris Rolli stretched the Red Devil lead to 4-0 when he redirected a shot off the stick of Irwin into the net, capping off the scoring on the night. The lead proved too much for the Minutemen to come back from, however, as the Red Devils played a strong third period to close out the game and secure their spot in the Playoffs.

For the seniors, it was a fantastic night as a representative of their class accounted all four goals. Irwin got things started and ended up with a goal and an assist. Crowley finished with two assists. Rolli had a goal and Centrella recorded a three-point night with two goals and an assist.

“Joey had a great game tonight, I think he was probably our best forward all night long,” said Conceison. “Like I said though I really thought all of our seniors played really well tonight.”

For the Red Devils, they relieved some pressure and have ensured that they will get a chance at the state title this year as they move into the Ed Cahoun Tournament in Medford next week where they’ll kick things off with a game against Chelmsford.

“We’ve been playing under the pressure of making the tournament for a little while now, so to clinch it is really good and we can just play our game in the tournament next week,” Conceison concluded.