WOBURN — This Triton hockey senior class gave everything it had over the last four years, and the stats speak for themselves.
-One Final Four run.
-One Elight Eight appearance.
-One trip to the Round of 16.
-And an impressive 46 total wins.
But unfortunately for the dozen seniors on this year’s roster, they couldn’t make it 47. On Thursday night down at the O’Brien Rink, No. 5 Triton sadly had to say goodbye to what really was a special class. The Vikings were in search of their second Division 3 Final Four trip in three years, but No. 4 Scituate proved to be too good, skating to a dominant quarterfinal victory, 6-0.
“They’re an amazing class and a great group of guys,” said Triton coach Ryan Sheehan. “Outside the rink and inside the rink, they’re a great group of guys and we’re definitely going to miss all of them. They’re a tough group.”
In more ways than one.
You could really argue that the toughness of this senior class showed itself before the season even started, when lifetime forwards Connor Rumph and Alex Pasquini agreed to move back to defense to fill a team need. You then had Mason Colby work his way back from a torn ACL suffered last spring and score 9 goals this year, while athletes like Josh Hersey, Lucas Tinkham, Vinny Magee and Jon Doherty were just models of consistency in their respective roles. Plus, you can’t forget about captain Luke Sullivan (22g, 10a), who enjoyed a truly breakout year before tragically breaking his leg in a freak accident during practice ahead of the team’s Round of 16 game.
And to cap it all, of course Gavin Marengi has been the program’s rock in net over the last three years.
Replacing any of them will be no easy task.
“These kids worked their butts off, man,” said Sheehan. “We’re going to miss them all.”
But getting back to Thursday, it just wasn’t Triton’s night.
The Vikings (15-6-2) got to go on the power play three times during the opening period, but only had five shots on goal to show for it after 15 minutes. What more, Scituate (19-4-2) actually opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal, when Owen Lochiatto won a cleared puck with a great forecheck, and slid a pass back to Luke Ryan for the one-timer. Minutes later, another great hustle play from Lochiatto saw the senior get to the puck first, then slide one across the crease past Marengi to make it 2-0 after the first.
And Triton’s power play woes — well, really it’s shots on goal — were the main story of the night. For the game, the Vikings only had 18 shots, and a handful of them came over the final few minutes when the Scituate reserves were getting some ice time. Sophomore goalie Mark Francis was spectacular when he needed to be to earn his shutout, but the defense in front of him was simply superb.
The Vikings just struggled to get any good looks.
“(Scituate) defends well with five guys,” said Sheehan. “They have a good forecheck, they get down on you, and they have good-skating defensemen. They didn’t let us into the slot too much, so, I mean, they were definitely faster than we anticipated.”
The Sailors would take a 3-0 lead into the third period, then score three more times over the first five minutes to initiate a running clock with 10:30 left. Both Lochiatto and Ryan would net their second, while Nate Sannella and Theodore Hare were behind the final tallies for the Sailors — who draw top-seeded Nauset in the Final Four (time/date TBD).
Scituate 6, Triton 0
Triton (15-6-2): 0 0 0 — 0
Scituate (19-4-2): 2 1 3 — 6
Division 3 Quarterfinals
Goals: S — Owen Lochiatto 2, Luke Ryan 2, Nate Sannella, Theodore Hare
Assists: S — Lochiatto, Grady Spinale, Michael Chatterton, Cole Ryan, L. Ryan
Saves: S — Mark Francis 18; T — Gavin Marengi 27