Topped 4-0 by Tewksbury in D2N first round
Published February 27, 2020
By DAN ZIMMERMAN
CHELMSFORD — It was understood, at the outset of the North Reading hockey season last December, that qualifying for the playoffs would spell success for the program. And with a clutch 11th-hour win at the end of the regular schedule, the Hornets did, in fact, punch their ticket for the postseason stage.
Noteworthy, certainly, but as the No. 14-seed Hornets realized Tuesday night, the achievement would have to be enough to inspire them to strive for more when they return to the ice next year.
North Reading’s visit to the MIAA North Division 2 tournament was abbreviated, cut short in the first round by the No. 3 Tewksbury Redmen, 4-0, at the Chelmsford Forum.
“It’s always a tough one,” said North Reading coach Brian McAuliffe, when asked about his parting talk with his players. “You never really know what to say in these situations. It’s always emotional, especially for the seniors.”
The Hornets wrapped up the 2019-20 season with a 9-9-3 record, a significant improvement over the two-win finish the year before. Part of that accomplishment was the result of top-notch stewardship in first-year coaches McAuliffe, Dan Giddings, and Chris Demming, as well as the senior captains Alex VerColen, Storm Davis, Zack Stats, and William McCann. But clearly, the driving force behind the success of this team was one of the most unassuming, humble athletes to wear the North Reading green in some time.
“Time and again, he has kept us in games and he made it possible for us to be here today,” said McAuliffe, when asked about his sensational netminder, Cameron Alter. “Tonight, he stood on his head. I told the team that was one of the best goaltending performances I’ve ever seen in a tournament game.”
Facing the Tewksbury sharpshooters, Alter made a dozen stops in the first period, and 13 each in the second and third. While he did yield a goal midway through the game and a pair in late action, Alter did as he consistently does and kept his team in range to the bitter end.
After a scoreless first period, the Redmen finally lit the lamp with 6:38 remaining in the second. If fault could be found in the Hornets’ execution, it was the number of icing whistles, intentional or not. One too many face-offs in the zone proved costly as Cole Stone roofed one off the draw and past Alter’s outstretched catching glove to take a 1-0 lead.
North Reading chances were at a premium. Tewksbury proved expert at clogging up the neutral zone, as well as eliminating shooting lanes. In all, the Hornets tested Redmen goalie, Patrick Letourneau, with just nine shots in all.
“That was a well-coached team,” said McAuliffe of his opponent, which will now advance to face North Andover in the quarterfinals. “They have a good system and they’re tough to beat. We worked hard but they did a good job at minimizing our chances. We couldn’t get anything to click.”
Trailing by a goal and with one minute left in the second, VerColen and Davis nearly tied it when they slipped behind the defense and closed on the net with tic-tac passing. But Letourneau, a bit shaky from lack of work, managed to knock it down with the blocker.
In a high school hockey oddity, particularly in an emotionally-charged tournament game of this nature, there wasn’t a single penalty called from start to finish.
Tewksbury’s Jason Cooke added an insurance goal early in the third and John Beatrice made it 3-0 with minutes left. McAuliffe traded Alter for an extra-attacker resulting in an empty-netter from Campbell Pierce.
“We were certainly of the mindset coming in that we could win this one,” said McAuliffe. “And then we’d see who was next. With the potential of those guys in that locker room, I thought we were good enough to go deep into this tournament. But that’s how this game goes sometimes.”
North Reading’s departing seniors include Alter, VerColen, Davis, Stats, McCann, Colin Gover, and Zachary Shaw.