High school hockey Notebook: Marshfield bounces back from mini-slump

After a good start to the season only marred by a couple of tight losses to fellow Div. 1 contenders, the Marshfield boys hockey team was feeling pretty comfortable.

To junior defenseman Jake Hemingway, it was maybe a little too comfortable.

As a well-established program with a couple of state titles under their belt over the last decade, the Rams didn’t dwell on a 2-0 loss to Xaverian and a 2-1 defeat to Hingham. If there are ever good losses, those were them. The Hawks are a Catholic Conference powerhouse, and the Harbormen prove to be one of the top public-school teams every year. Tight losses had Marshfield in good shape.

But after a poor week of practice that saw a loose energy each day, Marshfield lost 3-0 to Patriot League foe Plymouth North in a game that everyone in the locker room felt they should have won.

Even the good teams need a wake-up call at some point.

This was theirs.

“That week of practice, everybody was just lackadaisical,” Hemingway said. “We’ve seen a lot more life (lately).”

Since that third straight loss, that life Hemingway mentions has transformed into one of the better runs in the state over the last few weeks.

If winning four of the next five games by at least three goals doesn’t show it, a 3-2 win over title-contending Arlington in the first round of the Ed Burns Coffee Pot Tournament sure did. Not only have the Rams gone 9-1 since that loss to Plymouth North, but they’ve won the rematch 6-0, and a 3-2 win over Div. 2 power Tewksbury has them slated to play Hingham in the Coffee Pot Peter Doherty division final on Sunday.

Marshfield is rolling, and outside of an overtime loss to Scituate, not much has gotten in the way.

“Right now, we’re getting balanced scoring. Three, four lines playing really well. It’s just real simple,” said head coach Dan Connolly. “This team is very good. … We’d like to see where we can go, we just keep focused every game.”

The great thing about this stretch isn’t only how well Marshfield is doing in the Coffee Pot to show its status as a true contender, but also who is contributing.

As of Friday night, three of the top four scorers for the Rams are all sophomores. Will Doherty (11 goals, 11 assists) is making a run for the tournament MVP with a great couple outings against Arlington and Tewksbury. Cam McGettrick has 11 goals and 15 assists, Tommy Carroll has 12 assists and other sophomore Ryland McGlame has six goals to complement senior star Nick Souretis’ team-best 11 goals and 16 assists (27 points).

Throw in the defensive leadership of Connor Merrick and Hemingway in front of primary goalie Brady Quackenbush, and Marshfield is a tough team to beat.

That’s what we’ve seen in the Coffee Pot – a tournament designed to harbor all of the top public-school teams in the state. And Connolly believes this run is a good testament to how the postseason might unfold.

“Pretty much playing tournament games in the regular season, it’s a great measurement,” he said. “Time will tell how good we are. I think we have a good chance to be in every game. … Everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing and more.”

One-Timers

• Reading is flexing at the right time in a loaded Middlesex League, posting a 6-0-1 record over its last seven games entering Friday’s rematch against Arlington. That includes a 1-1 tie with Belmont (16-1-2) and a run to the Coffee Pot final in the Walter Brinn division.

• Hopedale/Milford’s quest to finish the year undefeated keeps looking more like a possibility, boasting a 16-0 record in Div. 3 with quite a few impressive wins – including a 3-1 victory over Sandwich.

• The Patriot League is well represented in the latest MIAA power rankings, with five teams slated inside the top-10 across three divisions. Duxbury, Silver Lake, Plymouth North, Scituate and Hanover all should make some noise in the postseason.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/QKyOXiN