Wilmington 2004 Hockey All-star Team Wins the BIC

Last weekend at the Breakaway Ice Center located in Tewksbury, eleven
Wilmington boys all born in 2004 came together from different local youth and
select hockey teams to compete as an all-star team in the Breakaway
Invitational Cup. This prestigious tournament formerly the Merrimack Valley Cup
is an opportunity for kids to represent their hometown and community.  This year’s 2004 division consisted of 8
towns from around Merrimack Valley and up to 6 potential games, depending upon
how far each team progresses. Wilmington was seeded in the National Division
with Masco, Reading and Lynnfield/Saugus. In the American Division were
Billerica, Chelmsford, Tewksbury and Andover.

Game 1 kicked off Friday night, with a very tough draw
against a multi-town team of all stars called Masco, whose players are made up
from the Middleton/Topsfield area.  The
Wildcats outplayed the Masco team, who could skate well, but didn’t have the
finishing power of Wilmington. Owen White got the Cats started early in the
second period by picking up a loose puck down low and snapping it through the
goalie’s pads. Then Nathan Alberti tipped in a pass to lengthen the lead for
Wilmington and AJ Lavigne blasted one in from the point, but Masco wouldn’t go
away making the score 3-2, but Gannon Ricci showed why he was picked for the
team with a no quit attitude and tenacious fore-checking he poked home a
rebound to keep the Cats moving in the right direction.  The Wildcats had 7 Different goal scorers
Friday night, and played aggressive, in your face hockey all weekend.  The game was nip and tuck for two periods but
eventually the Wildcats showed their ferociousness and proved too much for the
Masco team finishing them off soundly with a 7-2 victory. 

Game 2 was Saturday morning against an imposing Reading
Rockets all-star team.  The storyline in
this game was team defense. The Cats got on the board first with another great
shot from the point by AJ Lavigne.  Early
in the second the Rockets scored a shorthanded goal to tie it up. However, the
Cats pulled ahead again with a nice power play goal scored by Owen White,
streaking up the left wing after a great cross ice pass from Matt Vinal.  Ryan Dusablon was a workhorse during all 6
games of the tournament, playing tough physical defense along the boards in the
neutral zone and defensive zone, squaring up opponents in front of the Cats
net.  With less than 2 minutes left
Reading scored to scrape together a hard fought tie. 

The weekend’s festivities also included something new to the
tournament, an all-star style skills competition.  Starting things off was Jack Farrell
finishing 2^nd out of 8 players in the accuracy shooting.  Next was Owen White who dominated the penguin
slide.  Wilmington’s fire plug, Gannon
Ricci navigated a treacherous obstacle course that ended with a 30 foot net
push. Ricci finished 2^nd. 
James Fisher showed his wheels by burying the field in the fastest
skater competition coming in 1^st place.  Matt Vinal placed well but just short of a
medal in the three puck shoot-out competition. 
Wildcats goaltender Liam Crowley competed in 3 goaltending events, 10
puck rapid-fire, timed goalie up/downs and the three puck shoot-out. He took
1st place overall and Wilmington was awarded an extra town point for the overall
BIC Cup for their victories in the skills competition.

Game 3 was played late Saturday night after a long fun day
of skills and team bonding. The Cats facing a strong Lynnfield /Saugus team
that stayed close until the third, when the Cats pulled away.  The Lynnfield Saugus team showed impressive perseverance
and tenaciousness and didn’t let up on their attack.  Matt Ardito was a force at center for the
Wilmington 8 and 9 year olds in both ends of the ice, winning many big face-offs
and playing great two-way hockey. He scored early in the third to make it 5-3
and then James Fisher finished off the scoring with a great end to end rush. AJ
Lavigne was everywhere for the Cats and helped seal the victory. The boys from
01887 headed into Sunday’s quarterfinal playoffs in 1^st place in the
National division.

Early Sunday morning long before most were out of bed, the
all-stars from Wilmington were skating their hearts out against Masco in the
quarterfinals.  The Wildcats scored late
in the first as Gannon Ricci used his speed to get to a loose puck in the Masco
corner and steered it to the front for a goal mouth scramble that finished with
Keegan Gray tucking home the rebound on Matt Ardito’s shot. Ryan Dusablon kept
the Masco forwards reeling as Wilmington’s goaltender Liam “LC” Crowley was the
difference stopping every shot he faced for the 3-0 Shutout win.  Wilmington advanced to the semi-finals of the
National Division vs Reading, while in the American Division it was Tewksbury
vs Andover.

Matt Vinal, played huge against Reading in the Semifinals
notching 2 goals and some impressive two way play. Keegan Gray knocked in a
rebound, this time from a Jack Farrell blast from the point and Nathan Alberti
showed his net presence also scoring in tight.  Wilmington’s defense of Farrell, Ryan Dusabon,
AJ Lavigne and James Fisher hit their stride keeping Reading’s attacks limited.
The Wildcats rolled over the Rockets 4-1, while in the American Division
Andover edged Tewksbury 4-3. The stage was now set for a Wilmington vs Andover
winner take all championship game at 3pm.

The Championship game was a matchup of many select players
on both teams.  Andover’s top players
were known to many as the best around. After a lot of back and forth chances
for both teams, again getting the first goal was Keegan Gray who scored on a
wicked wrister from the right of the Warrior goaltender. James Fisher and AJ
Lavigne were matched up on defense against Andover’s best line for the whole game
and logged big minutes. Jack Farrell was also a beast on defense with Ryan
Dusablon they kept Andover from any sustained pressure. Nearing the end of the
first Matt Vinal blew past a defender for a rush up the left side, cutting in
and scoring to make the score 2-0 after 1 period. In the second period, Keegan
Gray and Nathan Alberti both scored and the Wildcats were flying. Gannon Ricci,
Owen White and Matt Ardito dominated the boards to keep the puck out of
Wilmington’s end. Liam Crowley made some spectacular saves on Andover’s best to
keep the score 4-1 after 2 periods. In the third it was apparent that Andover
could not keep up with the Cats team speed and aggressiveness.  Matt Vinal roofed a bullet into the Andover
net late in the third and that was it. Eleven Wildcat’s jumped on each other in
a pig pile on Breakaway’s Rink 1. Wilmington won the Breakaway Invitational
Cup  with a 5-1 win over Andover.

Thanks to all the families and friends who spent the weekend
cheering on the 01887 All-stars.  And a
special thanks to all the coaches, Mike Vinal, Dan White, Craig Conway, Dave
Crowley, Bob Ricci and Bob Farrell who gave their time to help make a lasting
memory for these young Wildcats.