BUZZARDS BAY— It was a daunting task. No. 6 Marblehead had to make a 72-mile journey for a Div. 3 boys hockey quarterfinal matchup against No. 3 Scituate, a team that had reached the state final in the previous season.
That didn’t faze the Magicians, as it rode two first-period goals to a 2-1 upset over the Sailors.
“We knew as soon as they scheduled the game here that we were going to win,” Marblehead coach Mark Marfiore said. “Right when they did that, I was already planning for the final four because that’s a team that doesn’t think they can win.”
The Magicians were quick to jump on the Sailors with a fast-paced style. This paid off when freshman Noah Feingold sniped a short-side goal to start the scoring, and Charlie Grenier doubled the lead moments later with a rebound goal.
The second period saw Sailors goaltender Thomas McMellon turn away multiple opportunities that kept the game within reach for his team.
Scituate had a much better response in the third period, and senior James Sullivan even cut the lead in half to add pressure. In response, junior goalie Leo Burdge locked it down.
“I needed to get the job done,” Burdge said. “Those kids were really coming at us but we managed to keep it out. Now we are going to the final four.”
Stoneham upsets Nantucket
Earlier in the day, a three-goal third period helped No. 10 Stoneham take down No. 2 Nantucket and advance to the Div. 4 semi-finals.
Nantucket was notably without 34-point scorer Braden Knapp for the third consecutive game after the senior was suspended by the MIAA following an incident in the team’s regular season finale against Sandwich.
Mike Taranto had two goals for the Spartans while Cosmo Ciccarello and Cam Shinnick had the others. Jeremy Jenkinson had the lone Whaler tally.
“The kids are just playing well,” Spartan’s coach Paul Sacco said. “It’s been a long season where they just slowly learned the process of what we are going to do to succeed. The guys are buying in and working hard, and we are just playing off it.”