The Canon Michael Curry, the sophomore winger for Weymouth High, was smashed into the boards in front of the Archbishop Williams bench in the last minute of the second period, sending his helmet skittering across the ice.
That summed up the evening perfectly.
Hats up to the Wildcats, as Archies coach Chris Cunningham subsequently remarked miserably.
In the Division I playoff opener, Weymouth boys hockey surprises Archbishop Williams with an upset victory.
Wednesday night, Weymouth pulled off a huge shock at Canton Sportsplex to finally secure that elusive hallmark playoff victory. 28th-seeded Wildcats upset No. 5 Archies, 2-0, in the opening round of the Division 1 boys hockey playoffs, riding on breakaway goals from second-liners Brody Dearden (first period) and Ryan Ferguson (third period), with 28 stops from goalkeeper Grady Salfity.
No. 12 Franklin (14-8) will host Weymouth (10-11-1) in the Round of 16.
The Wildcats had not won a postseason game since the 2012–13 campaign, when, in the first round of the old Division, they defeated No. 3 Braintree 4–3 in overtime as the 14th seed.
1. South competition. That was eight postseason games without a victory for Weymouth, which included a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Braintree in the Round of 32 in the previous campaign.
The memories of being welcomed by the Weymouth supporters like victorious warriors on their final ice-breaking attempt on Wednesday night has eclipsed those hardships in the present.
“I’ve never made it past a first-round playoff game in my high school career and I’ve been on the team for four years,” Salfity said with a grin.
For the guys, this is a major victory. That locker room is full with people who truly deserve this. Everyone is really proud of themselves, and they all really wanted it.”
As Dearden put it, “It’s huge.” “The guys are in a frenzy. From all of the boys, there is no doubt. They would prevail, as everyone knew. Nobody was unsure in that changing room. It’s weird and fantastic.”
The regular season ended with a 3-2 loss to Whitman-Hanson one week ago, but other than that, the Wildcats’ confidence was high. The regular season included a 1-7 slump from January 10 to February 4.
By shutting down an Archies offence that had averaged a strong five goals per game in the regular season, Weymouth pulled off the upset. With a 105-49 advantage over opponents, the Bishops (16-5-1) possessed a plus-56 goal differential that dwarfed Weymouth’s meagre plus-1 total (62 goals for, 61 goals against). Despite this, the Archies had a potent first line led by Finn Kelly (27 goals, 17 assists, 44 points), Ben Sylvester (14-17-31), and Casey Kelley (10-21–31). However, the Wildcats had all the answers.
Weymouth lost 28–16, although the Bishops could only count their truly high-danger opportunities on one hand—and maybe a few more fingers after that.
According to Cunningham, “We just lacked it offensively.” Though there were many shots that we attempted, very few of them were Grade-A chances. Rebounds and second-chance opportunities eluded us. We had a strong sensation of gripping the sticks. Relaxing was impossible for us.
Our rhythm was uncontrollably off. Simply put, we weren’t playing our game. quite disheartening.”
Weymouth coach Pat Kennedy stated, “We watched a video of our best period of defensive hockey [during the regular season],” adding that the coaching staff had instilled in the players the value of “playing our system and playing within our structure.” We discussed how important it was for us to take small steps.
get blocks on shots and sticks in lanes. On Monday, we practiced blocking shots. We expressed our desire for players to stop shots, and tonight we most likely had 20.
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The score was opened 5:02 into the game by Dearden’s fifth goal of the year. In the latter part of the first, the senior captain injured his shoulder.
Jack Brady, the senior defenseman, made a brilliant pass to make it 2-0 with 8:40 remaining in regulation. Ferguson’s goal tallied eight for the year. Kennedy remarked: “He’s very large and skilled.” Jack Brady made it very clear that if you’re the opposition, you don’t want someone like Fergie to get a breakaway.
Even though the Wildcats were outshot 9-3 in the third quarter, it was just a matter of hanging on from that point on, which they did admirably.
“Just play as hard as you can, and why not us?” Salfity responded when asked to summarise Weymouth’s strategy for pulling off the upset.