Knights Ousted in Hockey Semifinal [VIDEO]

It may be of little consolation to North Andover boys hockey fans, but Scarlet Knights head coach Pete Marfione believes his team just lost to the Division 2 state champions.

Though North Andover outshot Wilmington, 28-15, the locals fell, 2-0 on Tuesday night at Chelmsford Forum in the Division 2 North semifinal tilt. Wilmington, meanwhile, advanced to Monday’s final against Winthrop with a berth in the state championship game on the line.

“They’ll probably win the next two games I’d imagine,” said Marfione. “They’re the best team we’ve faced all year. I’d be surprised if they didn’t win it all.”

Wilmington junior Cam Owens roofed a rebound past North Andover goalie Joey Daccord with 1:47 left in the opening period. The power play goal was all that Wildcat freshman goalie Drew Foley would need, as he nine third period saves when the pressure was on.

Just for good measure, Wildcat sophomore Jake Rogers took a pass from Owens with 18 seconds left in the final period, dangled around a Scarlet Knight defender and fired home the empty netter to seal the win.

“That’s the definition of surviving and moving on,” said Wilmington head coach Steve Scanlon. “We don’t match up well with them and we struggled all night to establish a forecheck. Truth be told, I don’t think we played very well the whole night to be honest with you.”

North Andover’s best chances came while trailing 1-0. With 10:05 left in the second period, Foley went down to the ice on his stomach in anticipation of a shot that never came. When a Scarlet Knight forward finally attempted to lift the puck over Foley, the freshman reached up and gloved it, preserving the shutout.

Then with 9:46 to go in the contest, several North Andover players had chances from point blank in a crowd, but the Wildcats turned each attempt away.

Owens’ goal was the first score the Scarlet Knights allowed in the tournament. The team cruised past Somerville, 7-0, in the opening round before sneaking past Danvers with a 1-0 win in the quarterfinal.

Following the setback, fifth-seeded North Andover ended its season at 16-5-4. 

“Obviously you want to move on, but we got here,” said Marfione. “We’re proud of the boys. I like the way they fought all year.”