BILLERICA — For a moment, it appeared Methuen may be able to finish the amazing comeback.
Brett Blackwell took a pass and fired home a goal with 0:39 left in regulation to cut what was a three-goal Rangers deficit midway through the third to just a single score.
Methuen followed that with a pair of rushes that nearly found the back of the net, and had a faceoff to the left of the Boston Latin goalie with five seconds left.
But No. 12 Methuen could not find that final goal, falling to No. 13 Boston Latin 4-3 in the Division 2 North quarterfinals at the Chelmsford Forum.
“We came out flying and we finished very well,” said Methuen coach Bill Blackwell. “But in the middle we started to make some mistakes. Those mistakes multiplied and put us in a hole. All season we have had trouble putting 45 good minutes together. But I am proud of the guys.”
For nearly two full quarters, Boston Latin appeared to be in full control. The Wolf Pack took a 4-1 lead 3:34 into the second quarter, and dominated the puck and the momentum.
The Rangers, however, would not go away quietly.
First, Brett Blackwell hauled in a loose puck in his zone and floated a perfect pass to Matt Horan, who was breaking towards the goal. Horan did the rest, faking out the goalie and burying the puck to make it 4-2 with 8:12 left.
Then, with 0:39 remaining, Horan set up Blackwell for his goal to make it a one-score game. But a few final attempts were saved by the Latin goal, and time expired.
“We were playing like gangbusters in the final minutes,” said Bill Blackwell. “But time just ran out on us tonight.”
Methuen was actually the enforcer out of the gates. The Rangers came out flying, controlling the puck and delivering a few big hits. Ryan Mackey gave the Rangers the lead 4:21 into play when he buried a rebound in front of the net.
But Boston Latin responded with two goals just 1:34 apart to take a 2-1 lead.
“We had talked about putting pressure on their defense and getting them off balance early,” said Bill Blackwell. “But once they settled in, they started controlling the game a little, and we started committing turnovers.”
With the loss, Methuen ended its season at 11-8-3. The Rangers made the playoffs for the second straight season after not making it the previous four years, and their record was one win shy of last season’s 12-5-4 mark, the team’s best since the Eagle-Tribune began keeping records in 1995-96.
With his goal and assist, Blackwell finishes his senior season 20 goals and 45 points, both team-highs. Horan’s score was his 17th of the season, while Mackey scored his 13th goal.
Goalie Eddie Mrozowski also impressed in just over 26 minutes of action. He made 18 saves and did not allow a goal.
“We told the guys that this is where we want to be at the end of the year, in the tournament,” said coach Blackwell. “I told the guys they should walk out of here with their heads up because they had a great year. These juniors and senior have really rejuvenated the program. This group was amazing, and hopefully we can continue this path and be back at the party every year.”
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Boys Ice Hockey, 03/02/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
CHELMSFORD — Playing 3-on-3 in the second overtime session, Masconomet surged for one chance before Methuen charged up ice and scored to take a 5-4 win in the first round of the Division 2 North sectionals.
Connor O’Malley got the game-winner to send the Rangers into the North quarterfinals. They’ll play Boston Latin Friday at 5:40 p.m. at Chelmsford Forum.
Chieftains coach Andrew Jackson said, “Some of our guys thought they heard a whistle, but it is what it is.”
The Rangers (11-7-3) led 2-0 early before surrendering the next three goals to the Chieftains (11-6-4).
The scoring started quick for the Rangers when senior Brett Blackwell buried a shot just over three minutes in. The Rangers quickly doubled that lead with a tally from sophomore Matt Horan.
The Chieftains weren’t down for long, though. Freshman Logan Campbell got one back just 19 seconds after the second Rangers’ goal — and that’s when Masconomet took over.
Campbell scored under three minutes later to tie the game after an onslaught of shots from the Chieftains on Rangers goalie Devin Coonradt.
Will Major took a pass from captain Garrett Young and banked it off the goalie and in to give fifth-seeded Masconomet a 3-2 lead with 6:24 left in the second period. But the Rangers persisted and earned a late power play.
Blackwell — the son of head coach Bill Blackwell, who formerly coached the Chieftains — carried the puck down low and passed it, then forced in a rebound to tie the game.
It wasn’t ruled a goal at first, but after a lengthy review it was determined the Rangers had indeed tied the game with 25 seconds left in the frame.
Masconomet leading scorer Andrew Gotts took a rebound on the near side of the crease and got it past the outstretched leg of Coonradt to lead 4-3 with just over five minutes left in the game.
With 1:19 left following a Methuen timeout, Blackwell netted his third of the game to tie it, 4-4.
The first overtime had plenty of chances for both sides, but a late shot from Connor O’Malley found twine and sent the Rangers to the next round.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 02/27/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Jason Haddad scored his first career goal and Connor O'Malley scored twice as Methuen slipped past Acton-Boxboro 4-3 to improve to 10-6-3.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 02/19/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Not one to hog the spotlight, Zach Keating made sure to get his North Andover teammates involved. The senior dished out four assists, and also potted a pair of goals to help the Knights roll rival Methuen, 6-2.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 02/16/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Methuen senior tri-captain Justin Pitari scored a goal in a victory over Haverhill to record his 100th career point. It was the go-ahead goal in a 4-2 win for the Rangers (8-5-3).
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Boys Ice Hockey, 02/10/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
In what turned out to be a crazy finish, Methuen's Brett Blackwell knotched his 100th career point assisting on teammate Matt Horan's game-winning goal with 41 seconds left in a 6-5 win over Concord-Carlisle. The Rangers scored four goals in the third period to complete the wild comeback.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 01/27/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
It was a shootout, but nobody prevailed in North Andover's 5-5 tie against Methuen. Matt Lucy had three goals for the Knights, while the Rangers had five different goal scorers including Connor O'Malley. Both goalies, Methuen's Devin Coonradt and North Andover's Jack Walsh, made 23 saves.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 01/20/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
METHUEN — Slowly, Methuen is starting to find itself on the ice.
Four goals from senior captain Brett Blackwell powered the Rangers to a 4-2 victory against Shawsheen on Sunday afternoon.
“He had a career game for us today,” said Rangers coach Bill Blackwell, also Brett’s father. “He was really in the right place at the right time. It was good to see.”
It’s the second win in a row for the Rangers (5-4-1). The loss for the Rams (5-4) snapped a two game streak of scoring five goals in a game, a credit to the Ranger defense.
Shawsheen was making the big step up from the Commonwealth Conference to battle an MVC foe.
“We’ve been Jekyll and Hyde this season,” said Blackwell. “We’ve had a couple of good games, and a couple bad games, so we don’t know which team is coming out. In the first few periods it looked like we were playing and it was going good, but in the third we couldn’t really get it done.”
Blackwell started the scoring on his first goal of the afternoon with seven minutes to go in the first. He took a pass from Aidan Hollingsworth and buried it to make it 1-0.
Blackwell broke free on a penalty kill to double the lead on a shorthanded goal, the captain’s sixth tally of the year. He found the net again at the end of the second period on a pass from Pat Cooper for a 3-0 lead heading into the final frame.
Ron Page tallied at the start of the third for the first Rams goal of the day, before he scored again three minutes later to cut it to a one-goal game.
After the Rams kept pushing forward, Blackwell iced it with an empty net score for his fourth goal of the game and eighth of the year with 31 seconds left in the contest.
Junior Ed Mrozowski started in net, where he made 18 saves, and survived a few late defensive breakdowns.
“We need to work on team defense,” said Blackwell. “It’s funny too, because we came into the season saying we were going to score a bunch of goals, and we did early on.
“We scored nine, then seven, then six. Lately, we’ve been down there but haven’t put it in. Consistency scoring goals, and then late team defense.”
Next up, it’s a week off to practice before a match against 6-3-1 North Andover Saturday.
“We’re going to try to reinforce what we’ve always done, but add some things in,” said Blackwell. “We have to try to put in better forecheck, and add some stuff to our game.”
Methuen 4, Shawsheen 2
Shawsheen (5-4): 0 0 2 — 2
Methuen (5-4-1): 2 1 1 — 4
Goals: M — Brett Blackwell 4
Assists: M — Kyle Mackey, Aidan Hollingsworth, Pat Cooper
Saves: M — Ed Mrozowski
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Boys Ice Hockey, 01/14/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Andover's Catherine Bravo had two clutch fre throws down the stretch and scored 14 points to pace the Austin Prep girls to a 53-47 victory over Hamilton-Wenham. Lawrence's Julie Torres chipped in with seven points.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 12/30/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Justin Pitari and Pat Cooper each potted a pair of goals and Matt Horan had a goal and two assists as Methuen beat Cambridge Rindge & Latin 7-4.
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Boys Ice Hockey, 12/28/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
