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Andover's Reilly the hero in stunner of No. 1 Austin

LOWELL — When your opponent nets the equalizer with 97 seconds left in a tense, playoff hockey team, a team is supposed to melt.

Andover High coach Chris Kuchar simply got his grease board and all the duct tape he could muster, calling an immediate time out and finding a way to hold his Warriors together.

Seventy-six seconds later, the coach — and the gritty Golden Warriors — reaped the rewards of that mental toughness when Caedon Dillman stole the puck on the forecheck behind the net, then fired a behind-the-back, backhand pass that Mike Reilly rifled home for the game-winner in a classic 2-1 Division 1 North semifinal over Austin Prep.

“He called for it, I didn’t really look for him, I just know where he always is,” said Dillman. “We have that chemistry, and we’ve worked at it. I just put it out front, hoped for something good.”

How stunning was the game-winner? Only the goal-judge and Reilly, leaping for joy into the boards, seemed to notice.

“I didn’t have to do much. I was ready for it, no thinking, just react,” said Reilly. “Caedon made an unbelievable pass, backhand behind his back, and he found me out front. Unbelievable pass. He’s been doing it all year.”

Reality hit and Andover went bonkers.

“We just said we were going to unload on them in the aggressive fore-check,” said Kuchar. “Caedon Dillman went in hard, Matthew Schuhwerk went in hard, and our third guy high, Michael Reilly went to the net where he’s supposed to. He got a feed out front, and the goalie never saw it. He buried it.”

The Golden Warriors, with a handful of guys in the room struggling with pneumonia, will get four days of much-needed rest before facing St. Mary’s of Lynn, Monday night back here at the Tsongas Center, for the North title.

“We’ve got a chip on our shoulder because we’re a public school,” said Reilly. “We just stuck together, worked hard and got it done.”

Andover struck first, midway through the second on a Mike Biddle goal that was 99.9 percent effort. Biddle just muscled his way from the left wing to the cage and slid the puck past Austin’s Dylan Regan.

That lead looked like it might hold.

Andover fended off every Austin challenge, and senior goalie Zach Laramie was on his game, turning away shot after shot.

But Austin’s desperation finally paid dividends in the final two minutes. The puck trickled loose around the cage, and in a scrum, Laramie lost his stick. When the rubber rolled out onto the stick of Nick Cafarelli, he buried it, knotting things at 1-1.

That’s when Kuchar used the timeout and told his Warriors to scrap their passive trap defense and get into the heavy forecheck.

Laramie finished with 26 saves. The senior with seven shutouts in the regular season has only allowed two total goals in the two postseason wins.

“This is the love of my life, hockey, it’s what I live and breathe,” said Laramie. “The regular season prepared us for this. I just tried to stay calm and be collected.”

“The saves he made at the end of the game were 10-bell saves. We’re not here without him,” said Kuchar. “He’s one of the best goalies in Massachusetts. We’re lucky to have him.

“To get scored on like that, our kids could have folded, they showed a lot of character and heart.”

Andover 2, Austin Prep 1

Division 1 North semifinal

at Tsongas Center

Andover (15-5-2): 0-1-1 — 2

Austin (17-5-2): 0-0-1 — 1

Second Period: And — Michael Biddle 12:22

Third Period: AP — Nick Cafarelli (Louis Finocchiaro, Jake Thain) 13:23; And — Michael Reilly (Caedon Dillman) 14:39

Boys Ice Hockey, 03/08/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars

Andover rolls past Winchester

CHELMSFORD — Andover High shared the same disappointment as St. John’s Prep when a lumber-laden 13-5-2 campaign fell short of Super 8 worthiness, according to the committee.

There was no way the Warriors would suffer the same kind of heartache on the same ice as the Prep, the same night here at the Chelmsford Forum.

Minutes after St. John’s Prep fell 4-3 in sudden-death overtime to top-seeded Austin Prep, the fourth-seeded Golden Warriors simply pounced on No. 12 Winchester, breaking to a quick 2-0 first period lead and rolling, 4-1, in a Division 1 North quarterfinal that just wasn’t as close as the score indicated.

“It was a disappointment for the team, but we accepted where we are and put it behind us,” said Warrior Mike Biddle. “We all thought we should have been there. We’ve accepted where we are, and now we just keep moving forward.”

Next up for Andover is a Wednesday night, Tsongas Center date with Austin Prep, which rebounded nicely from its 4-3 Super 8 play-in loss to Marshfield last week.

“We took care of business tonight, and now the focus is on Austin Prep Wednesday,” said Andover goalie Zack Laramie, who was called on to make just 13 saves in the win. “We think we’re just as good as any team. We beat Central, the six seed in the Super 8. Not getting in just lights a fire under us to win this.”

Despite showing the rust of a two-week layoff, Andover made sure there would be no letdown.

Matt Schuhwerk opened the first period with a goal and Matt Belluche closed it with one as the clock showed just 24 seconds to intermission.

“Fourteen days off between games and it showed,” said Andover coach Chris Kuchar. “We played really sloppy. We didn’t have our legs underneath us, and we weren’t very crisp.

“We only gave up 14 shots, but we need to play better. We have to be much better to beat a team like Austin Prep.”

Biddle had the lone goal in the middle period and Brendan Croston made it 4-0 before Winchester spoiled Laramie’s bid for the playoff shutout late in the third.

All in all, fighting the layoff and the misfortune, Kuchar likes where his team is headed to Tsongas.

“There’s another tournament to be played,” the coach said. “Despite the fact we didn’t close out the season well, we truly didn’t earn our way into the Super 8, we have things to play for. This is our second time in the Division 1 North semifinal in the last three years and we are looking forward to it.”

Andover 4, Winchester 1

Winchester (12-10): 0 0 1 — 1

Andover (14-5-2): 2 1 1 — 4

Division 1 North Quarterfinals

Goals: A — Matt Schuhwerk, Matt Belluche, Mike Biddle, Brendan Croston; W — Jack Keane

Assists: A — Jeff Hurst 2, Pat Hughes, Mike Reilly, Matt Sharrio, Matt Croston, Biddle; W — Joe LePore

Saves: A — Zack Laramie 13

Boys Ice Hockey, 03/05/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars

Memory of loss last winter sparks Central to statement victory over Andover

SALEM, N.H. — Central Catholic goalie Matt Pasquale was ready with the politically correct answer following his Raiders’ win over Andover, that it was just another game.

But when pressed a bit about the rivalry, the smile began to crack through.

Boys Ice Hockey, 01/25/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars

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