POTSDAM — The Massena Central boys hockey team didn’t get all the goals it wanted against Canton in the Section 10 Division I Championship Game, but in claiming a 1-0 decision over the Golden Bears, the Raiders got the only goal they needed to earn a sixth straight title.
“When you play against a team as often as we have against Canton, you get to know each other’s tendencies and styles,” said Massena coach Mike Trimboli after the Red Raiders denied the Bears for a third straight season in the sectional final. “When you get to this point, it really is more of a chess match where things are happening with every shift. It’s always a great game against Canton. I didn’t really expect this to be a 1-0 game but we’ll take it.”
With the win, Massena improved to 12-8-1 overall heading into this year’s state Division I Tournament. They will now get set to host the Section 2 champion on Saturday in an opening round matchup at 7:30 p.m. at the Massena Arena. Shenendahoah and LaSalle are slated to square off in that sectional final this evening at Union College.
“These two teams (Massena and Canton) know each other so well. We know what to expect and we know how to counter each other,” said Canton coach Randy Brown. “Hockey is a game of bounces. Both teams played hard, both teams had their chances and both goaltenders played very well. The right bounce just went their way tonight.”
The only goal of the contest came midway through the second period when Massena forechecked away control of the puck in the Canton zone and worked it back to the right point where it was controlled and quickly sent toward goal by junior Gage Fiacco into a scramble of players in front of junior goaltender Jerod Burchell. The goal was credited to junior Logan Chilton but coach Trimboli confirmed after the game that junior Jack Loran was the player who deflected the waste-high shot down and past Burchell with 6:41 left in the middle frame.
“Logan was out in front when the puck went back to Gage and Jack skated in from the right corner. I talked to the two of them and they said that it was Jack who actually got his stick on the puck and redirected it,” Trimboli said.
Junior Nate Moffitt turned aside 20 shots, including the 10 he faced in the middle period, to earn the shutout for the Raiders.
“The game turned into a goaltender’s duel,” Trimboli said. “Both teams had their chances but both goaltenders came up with big saves the whole game.”
Said Moffitt, who posted the shutout in his postseason debut: “I was pretty nervous at the beginning but the team came through big time. Now we have a big game at home on Saturday and this win should boost our confidence.”
Burchell went on to stop 27 of the shots he faced for the Bears, who closed out their season at 11-9-1 and came a late-season loss to Potsdam away from claiming the NAC regular season title.
“Jerod stepped up his game by leaps and bounds over the course of this season,” said coach Brown, who noted that one key personnel loss during the game contributed to the season-ending defeat.
“Isaac Thrasher has been one of our top forwards. He was injured halfway through the first period and we lost him for the game,” he said. “That left us kind of floundering as far as how to put our lines together to make up for it. For us to lose someone like Isaac and to have it come down to being a one-goal game was a statement to the quality of the kids we have.”
Thrasher was injured when he fell awkwardly into the boards attempting to check a Massena player. He managed to skate to the bench under his own strength but did not return to the ice.
“He was pretty stunned so we thought it was better to play it safe,” Brown said.