Close, but no cigar.
In a very highly contested championship finale of the Cape Ann Savings Bank Holiday hockey tournament, it was visiting Medfield who outlasted Gloucester, 2-1, to claim the title at Talbot Rink on Saturday evening.
It was nothing short of a heartbreaker for the Fishermen, as Medfield’s first goal was scored with just two seconds left in the opening period while the game-winner ripped the twine with only 58 seconds remaining in regulation.
“Sometimes when you play well and lose it hurts more than when you don’t play well,” said GHS coach Derek Geary, his team now 2-3 on the year. “This was the best game we played all season and against a real quality opponent in Medfield that played (for the Division 3 state title) at the Boston Garden last spring.”
Gloucester had punched its ticket to the championship clash by upending Medford, 4-1, on Friday. The Fishermen scored three unanswered goals late in the final period of that one to run away with the victory.
In that first round win, Bryce Albano opened the scoring on an assist from Sam Sanfilippo. Lukas Albano, Connor Mahoney and Sanfilippo would follow suit with goals of their own, with Will Linn, Connor Curley and Reis LoPiccolo adding assists.
Medfield, meanwhile, had shut out Marblehead, 5-0, on Friday evening to set up the winner-take all bout.
The Warriors (now 4-1) carried that impressive play into their matchup with Gloucester, dominating possession in the opening period. They kept the Fishermen bottled up in their defensive zone for much of the frame while out-shooting them by a significant 11-2 margin. Gloucester’s junior goalie Trey Marrone kept his team afloat by making a number of timely stops early and often.
“Trey played great tonight — and in the tournament — and that’s a good thing for us moving forward,” said Geary.
Marrone finished with 23 saves, his high water mark in the early stages of the new campaign. He was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The visitors finally got one past him just before the first period horn sounded, as Matthew Dickson took a nice pass from his brother Luke Dickson who went in alone on Marrone and sent one home on a nifty backhander to make it 1-0.
As the game went on, however, the Fishermen played much better to claw back into it.
They more than held their own with the talented Warriors in the second period, as each team had eight shots on goal, including some quality chances at both ends.
The Fishermen would ultimately tie the score early in that middle frame as Cam Amero fired a shot from just inside the Medfield blue line that goalie Kevin Nee initially stopped, but teammate Luke Salah was right there on the doorstep to whack in the rebound. Salah, a sophomore, snuck the puck home on the short side to give his team some momentum at 1-1 heading into the third and final stanza.
The Fishermen continued to trend in the right direction in the final stanza, outshooting the visitors 11-6. But they could not put another one past Nee in net.
Once again the Dickson brothers connected on a 2-on 1 for the game-winner, as Luke Dickson was on the receiving end of a pass from brother Matthew and potted the decisive goal in the final minute of action.
It was a clean game overall, with each team whistled for just one penalty each, both of which occurred in the third period.
“We are a young team and we have some things to work on,” said Geary. “We need to be stronger on both bluelines, both entering the offensive zone and defending our defensive zone, but we’ll get there.”
Gloucester won’t have too long of a break, returning to action on Wednesday at noon to take on Lynnfield at McVann-O-Keefe Skating Rink in Peabody. The Fishermen will then return home next Saturday to take on Marblehead at 6 p.m.
Medfield 2, Gloucester 1
at Talbot Rink, Gloucester
Medfield 1 0 1 | 2
Gloucester 0 1 0 | 1
Scoring Summary
First period: M, Matthew Dickson (Luke Dickson), 14:58
Second period: G, Luke Salah (Cam Amero, Cade Francis), 2:17
Third period: M, Luke Dickson (Matthew Dickson), 14:02
Saves: M, Kevin Nee 20; G, Trey Marrone 23.
Records: M, 4-1; G, 2-3.
Sports Editor Nick Giannino contributed to this report.