Wakefield travels to Bedford for Round of 16 tomorrow
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
METHUEN — Let’s just say the Warriors felt good about that one.
A high-intensity state tournament game combined with multiple questionable hits and cross-checks from one team and a postgame scuffle started by said team’s fans were far from the highlights at the end of the day for the winning team as Wakefield left Methuen High with a smile and a 5-1 victory in a Div. 3 first round matchup on Wednesday night.
The No. 22 ranked Warriors had heard the chatter all week. What was a 2-16-2 team doing on the same ice as a 13-4-3 and league champion one?
As it turned out, the MIAA’s decision to rank Wakefield ahead of 13 other teams in the D3 bracket was a wise one.
The Warriors took a 1-0 lead after one, a 3-1 lead after two and finished strong, never letting a shocked Rangers squad get back into it.
“It was more than just Methuen it felt like a lot of people were talking about our record,” said junior goalie David Rocca who racked up 23 saves in the win. “We were really playing to prove all of them wrong.”
The Warriors did that as a group with Rocca and the defense locking in from start to finish while the offense leaned on senior captain Trevor Veilleux (1 goal, 2 assist), junior JP Casey (2 goals), sophomore John Scarpello (3 assists) and freshman Mike Yianacopolus (3 assists).
The first period featured everything you’d expect from a playoff game. The pace was fast, the environment electric, the goalies locked in and although Methuen was the more physical team, it was good, clean, exciting hockey. The Rangers had the early advantage before Wakefield got their legs under them, eventually taking the lead with just 1:10 remaining in the frame when Veilleux picked up a loose puck in the offensive zone and deked Metheun’s All-Star goalie Owen O’Brien to an open look on the forehand. O’Brien made a miraculous recovery, getting a glove on it but Casey was on the spot, jamming home the rebound to make it 1-0.
Methuen nearly tied it after a crazy bounce off the boards sent the puck back to the crease but Rocca saw it in time cover up with 4 seconds left.
The shot totals were nearly even in this one with Wakefield a slight 25-24 advantage. That difference came mostly in the 2nd period as the visitors outshot the home team 11-5 and buried two more goals to seize all the momentum.
“Slow start tonight but we ramped it up and took over the game,” said head coach John Vater.
Sustained pressure led to Veilleux’s tally in front with assists to Yianacopolus and Scarpello to make it 2-0 with 10:17 left in the 2nd.
Rocca soon after made a save on a hard, high shot but it fell to the paint before senior Ryan Metsis and junior Jack Simoneau dove in front, blocking two more shot attempts before Rocca got to it.
Methuen’s first frustration penalty occurred soon after on a crosscheck to the face. Rather than retaliate, Wakefield focused on the opportunity and didn’t take long to cash in as Metsis finished from an impossible angle with assists again going to Scarpello and Yianacopolus.
Methuen responded with a powerplay goal of their own on a deflection in front, but just as the wave was turning, another questionable Methuen crosscheck with two minutes left — this time on the numbers, forcing a Warrior headfirst into the glass — allowed for Wakefield to coast into the final period up two.
Wakefield never let Methuen get back into it in the 3rd. The forecheck went to work, making the Rangers play the length of the ice.
“We changed our forecheck and a few things to get us on the right side of the puck and that pretty much sealed it,” said Vater.
Meanwhile, Rocca reached another level, making multiple sprawling saves to keep Wakefield in control.
“That was David’s best game of the season,” said the coach. “He stood on his head tonight, that was good stuff.”
“I felt like as I was making saves I was getting better and better,” said Rocca. “Each time I saw the puck I was dialing more in.”
Casey, who was playing with an infectious energy from start to finish, scored his second on a one-handed tip in front off a perfect centering feed by Scarpello to make it 4-1 with just over 5 minutes left. Sophomore Brayden Myette also assisted on the play.
“We all rallied together just making plays, getting the puck deep and getting body on body, it fires everyone up,” said Casey. “We have a tight group, just a tight-knit family. We all love each other and we just all play for each other.”
That togetherness was on display when Methuen continued to commit frustration penalties with Wakefield standing up for each when they needed to. The Warriors finished the scoring on an empty netter from junior Brady Walsh with 54 seconds left and they escaped to the locker room after a postgame skirmish involving members of Methuen’s student section, one of which attempting to throw a punch before coaches and administrators intervened, ending a contentious and emotional night.
In the end, against all odds, Wakefield felt like it was the trials earned from playing in the best league in the state that helped prepare them for the moment.
“It’s been a tough season, we’ve had a lot of injuries so the record doesn’t look great but once we got everyone back we’ve been having more success and we put it all together tonight,” said Veilleux. “We’ve fought through adversity all year and we knew in the playoffs we’d see teams who haven’t played against the type of teams that we have all year. It’s just a different game (in the Middlesex League) so we feel like they (D3 opponents) can’t keep up with us.”
Wakefield will now meet No. 6 Bedford (17-3-1) who beat No. 27 West Springfield 5-0 in the first round. The teams will play at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Edge Sports Center in Bedford.
Wakefield is plenty familiar with the Buccaneers.
Bedford beat Wakefield 4-1 earlier this season on New Year’s Day also at the Edge. Rocca was out for that game.
Vater, who was linemates with Bedford coach Brian Seabury at Salem State, knows if his team can replicate the effort and execution in round one, they can compete with anybody in the bracket.
“The message is just learn how to digest it, process it, move on and get ready for practice,” said Vater. “Bedford will be a good test we played them solid with our freshman goalie in. We skated with them and I thought it was a really good, competitive game.”
The winner will advance to the Elite Eight where they will play the winner of No. 3 Essex Tech vs. No. 19 Hopedale.