St. John's Falls to Winchester on the Ice

After jumped ahead early, Winchester took the lead on two late second period strikes and never looked back as the #5 seed Sachems defeated the #4 seed Pioneers, 2-1, in the Quatertfinal of the Division 1 North MIAA Hockey Tournament in Chelmsford on Saturday night. 

After struggling to get their offense on track in the first period and falling behind 1-0, Winchester scorers lit the lamp twice in the second. Senior forward Dan Donovan put the Sachems on the board with just under 3 minutes remaining in the period. Donovan flew in from the slot to bang home the rebound on Alex’s Sharp’s initial attempt.  Sharp, a junior forward, picked up the assist on the play.

The teams seems poised to head to the break with the score knotted at one, but Winchester scored their second goal of the period with just 11 seconds left on the clock to take a 2-1 lead into the locker rooms. St. John’s iced the puck under pressure with 16 seconds left in the period, giving Winchester the chance to set up in the offensive end. The Sachems controlled the faceoff. Freshman forward Brendan Greene connected on a one-timer from a beautiful setup by senior defensemen Peter Troiano behind the Pioneers goal for what would turn out to be the game-winning score. 

Both of the Sachems’s second-period scores came at even strength, but Winchester spent the majority of period with the man advantage. St. John’s took a number of penalties to open the frame and all the time on the penalty kill disrupted the flow they had in the opening period. Winchester was able to stay on the attack throughout the second period registering 15 shots, and St. John’s never really regained a rhythm. It was a stark shift in momentum that St. John’s was never able to get back in their favor.

“The second period was good for us,” said Winchester head coach Matt Spang. “We stuck with our game plan and in the second period and it started to pay off. It was good to see to see them executing what we were telling them to do. We’ve got to play three periods of hockey, and we’re starting to understand that.”

The Pioneers had struck first with just over 5 minutes remaining in the first period.  Junior forward Jacob Poirier sprung senior forward Keith Kelly free in the defensive end. Kelly carried the puck from end to end and laced a screaming shot into the chest of Winchester goaltender Jed Robinson. Robinson was able to turn away that shot, but junior forward Jay Duquette scored on the rebound to give St. John’s the early lead.

The Pioneers though were unable to sustain their first period burst. They seemed to win all of the one-on-one battles early on and they controlled the play. Too many penalties, however, and re-invigorated Winchester squad proved too much for the Pioneers to overcome. They did have their chances to even the score, but Robinson was able to stand up a number of point-blank chances to preserve the Sachem’s victory.

“Jed’s been a rock for us all year and today was no different,” said Spang. “He’s done what we’ve asked of him all season and we’re going to ask him to do again next game.”

With the win, Winchester advances to the tournament Semi-Final round. The Sachems return to Chelmsford on Wednesday night to face off again #1 seed St. Mary’s of Lynn. For Brian Murphy’s St. Johns squad, the season comes to a close with a final record of 15-7-1.