Medfield Boys' Hockey Upsets Abington to Advance in MIAA Tourney

BOURNE – Medfield's defense did exactly what it needed to do to fend off Abington's high-flying offense in the first two periods and goalie Connor Roddy took care of the third, shutting out the Green Wave, 3-0.

The result: A ticket to next week's semifinal round and an upset of the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Division 3 South Sectional Boy's Hockey State Tournament in Sunday's quarterfinal round at Gallo Arena.

Roddy's outstanding play between the pipes kept Abington off the scoreboard despite a late frenzy of scoring chances and kept the Warriors' season alive for another round. Roddy lifted his team when the defense in front of him broke down, especially in the third period. His ability to turn away chances secured an impressive shutout victory over a team that had entered Sunday's game with 139 goals scored through 21 contests.

"Best game [Roddy's] played for us so far," Medfield head coach Toby Carlow said. "He's there when when we need him ... that's what a good goalie does. When his team's not playing, he's going to be the best player on the ice and he was today."

Despite the 3-0 victory, the sloppy third period turned in by the Warriors was fresh on Carlow's mind as he was quick to point out his team did not turn in their best effort despite the big stage against a quality opponent. 

"Not our best game, not by a long shot," Carlow said. "[We were] sloppy in a lot of areas where [we] need to be better."

Most notably, those areas in need of improvement are working the puck effectively out of the defensive zone and controlling the puck more at the other end of the ice. 

"It takes a lot of pressure off us when the puck is 230 feet away from your own net," Carlow said. 

Medfield (15-5-3) was never quite able to possess the puck for long stretches of time in the offensive zone as all three of its goals were scored on rushes that started out of the zone. Abington outchanced Medfield but the Wave could not crash on Roddy.

"We got to play better than that," said Carlow. "Whatever team we face moving forward is going to be very, very good and we cannot afford to have letdowns like we did [Sunday]."

The Warriors jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on Chris Diana's first period goal with 8:11 remaining. Patrick Lawler recorded the assist after sending Diana the puck down the left boards and Diana gained position in the slot and ripped a wrister by Abington's Ryan Mercier.

That lead held for the remainder of the period due in large part to Medfield's layered and active defense and the play of Roddy in net. The second period mirrored the first in tempo and scoring chances, with lots of end to end action turned in by both teams, and just like the first, Medfield was the team to capitalize. 

Medfield's Matt Crowell was called for a minor penalty just 1:12 into the second period but 44 seconds into the penalty kill, the Warriors' Jim Magrath found open ice in front of the Abington net and beat Mercier for a shorthanded goal and a 2-0 lead. The score stayed that way, thanks to Roddy, until Magrath tallied an empty-net goal with 47 seconds remaining in the third period to increase Medfield's lead to 3-0 and end Abington's season. 

"We're happy to be moving on and keep playing," Carlow said. "Hopefully the kids know they got out of here with one and they can't afford to slip up or their season is over. A win is a win."

Medfield will face the winner of Sunday night's Bishop Feehan-Pembroke game in next week's semifinals.