ARLINGTON, Mass. — The top seed in the Ed Burns High School Hockey Classic is out of the running for a championship after the first round. The culprit was Marshfield as the Rams ousted Arlington in overtime by a score of 3-2 on Monday evening at the Ed Burns Arena.
Sophomore right wing Will Doherty’s second goal of the night was the difference. With 28.5 seconds left in the four-on-four overtime session, Doherty took a drop pass from junior defenseman Connor Merrick. One or two strides after receiving the puck, Doherty ripped a wrist shot that beat Arlington junior goalie Jake Davies above the blocker. The puck came out of the net almost as fast as it went in with a wild celebration ensuing.
Marshfield (10-3-1) has now won seven straight games and will face Tewksbury in the semifinals of the Peter Doherty Division of the Ed Burns High School Holiday Classic. The loss snapped a six-game unbeaten streak for Arlington (11-2-1). The Spy Ponders have a busy week with three games between now and Sunday’s loser’s bracket game against Waltham.
Arlington jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period when junior center Jake Russell used his speed to split the defense. As he was being hooked down, he slid the puck past Marshfield junior goaltender Brady Quackenbush.
The Rams evened the score in the second period while on the power play. Sophomore right wing Cam McGettrick, coming off the wall on the left wing, fired a low wrist shot on net that appeared purposeful. The shot was saved, but the rebound went right to the stick of senior center Nick Souretis who buried it into the back of the net.
Doherty gave the Rams a 2-1 lead on a beautiful individual effort. Skating right to left, he juked a couple of times, waited out the goaltender before slipping a backhander into the twine.
Arlington drew even in the third period on a blast from the blue line. Junior defenseman Stephanos Sotiropoulos stepped in and unleashed a hard slap shot from the right point. It deflected off a Marshfield defender and past Quackenbush.
Marshfield had to kill a penalty late in regulation, which led to the overtime period. Quackenbush made a couple of key stops among his 22 on the night. That set the stage for Doherty’s heroics in overtime.
Prospect notes
Will Doherty
Marshfield, 2/13/06, RW, right shot, 6-0/160
Doherty didn’t have the puck on his stick a ton, but when he did, he made it count. Both goals he scored showed tremendous skill. The first one was more finesse with patience and deking out opposing defenders and the goaltender. The second was a snipe on a north-south power move down the right wing. Doherty has good size, skill and skates well. There is still further untapped potential with the winger who played in the fall for the Cape Cod Whalers.
Cam McGettrick
Marshfield, 1/4/06, RW, right shot, 5-9/150
McGettrick had the puck on his stick more than any other Marshfield forward. He had the power-play assist, coming off the wall. There were a couple of other chances he had and he certainly has a good, hard shot when he gets it in scoring areas. McGettrick has a knack for the net and has shown that throughout this season as the team’s leading scorer. If he can continue to get better in terms of hunting pucks and stopping on pucks, his impact on the game will increase.
Jake Russell
Arlington, 2/11/04, C, right shot, 5-8/160
Russell was his team’s best player, as he’s been in a few of my viewings of Arlington this season. He used his speed and was strong on pucks when he scored the team’s first goal. He made a couple of other plays throughout the game and played in all situations.
Jack Sadowski
Arlington, 7/29/06, C, left shot, 5-9/140
Sadowski has the most upside of anyone in this game. Obviously, expectations are lofty when watching the Junior Eagles 16-U forward. This was the first time I’ve seen him play center with Arlington this winter as he played left wing in the three previous viewings. He made a couple of plays and had an assist on Sotiropoulos’ goal. Sadowski is in a little bit of a scoring funk, but I thought he played better this game than the last time I saw him. His shot, vision and overall hockey sense were on display throughout the game. I wouldn’t want to face Arlington later in the winter when he breaks out of this slump.
Brendan Hirsch
Arlington, 4/17/05, RW, left shot, 6-1/181
Hirsch had an assist on Russell’s goal and made an impact on the game with his heaviness on pucks and tenacious forecheck. What he lacks in skating, he makes up for with size, strength and willingness to play hard. He threw his weight around and had a couple of good plays down low on the cycle.
Tommy Carroll
Marshfield, 1/1/05, C, right shot, 5-9/155
Carroll didn’t have a point, but he made a big impact for Marshfield. He drew a penalty with a tenacious play that led to the power play score by Souretis. With the score tied 1-1, he delivered a huge backcheck that broke up a golden opportunity for Arlington. Carroll did a lot of little things well and should be considered a huge part of Marshfield’s win on Monday night.
Brady Quackenbush
Marshfield, 11/5/04, G, catches left, 5-10/152
Quackenbush is on the smaller side for a modern era goaltender, but he was a major reason why the Rams were victorious. He made a couple of clutch saves, but what stood out to me was his overall rebound control. A lot of pucks hit him in the logo and he ate them up. He didn’t allow a soft goal. The first was a breakaway and the second was an unlucky bounce off his own defender’s stick. It was a good game for the goaltender who entered the night with a .936 save percentage.
