NEWBURYPORT — It’s cliche but true: A hot goalie can cover up a lot of warts, and carry you to a title by themselves.
A year ago, the Triton hockey team experienced this when Gavin Marengi was excellent in leading the team to the Division 3 Semifinals. Flash forward to today, and Marengi — now a junior — is still doing his thing in the cage for the Vikings.
But on Saturday night, the Vikings ran into a goalie just as dialed in.
Medfield junior Charlie Duggan was exceptional in the team’s opening-round win over Wakefield a few days prior, allowing just one goal over 55 minutes before stoping 5-of-6 penalty shots in a shootout. He followed with a similar outing on Saturday, and the No. 10 Warriors got just as gritty a performance from everyone in front of him to stifle Triton, 2-1, in the Division 3 Round of 16 at the Graf.
For the No. 7 Vikings (12-10), a great season comes to an end.
They had a shot to tie things up in the final seconds with a 6-on-4 in play, but Michael Taylor’s slap shot from the blue line at the buzzer was collectively blocked by Owen DuRoss and Ben Lusby.
“We didn’t get a ton of shots through because their guys did an unbelievable job of blocking shots,” said Triton coach Ryan Sheehan. “I mean, you saw that last shot, there were two guys coming out and blocking that. Their goalie is hot right now, and they’re not letting a lot of stuff happen inside the house, so they’re a good team.”
For the majority of the game, Triton struggled to sustain any momentum.
And it started right at the beginning. Medfield went to the box for a trip a minute into the game, but seconds after killing it, DuRoss flew into the offensive zone and ripped home a rocket from the right faceoff circle. It would stay a 1-0 game after the first period, until three minutes into the second when a turnover trying to clear the zone led to a Lusby goal.
Just like that, Triton was in some trouble down 2-0.
But with Connor Rumph, Lucas Tinkham, Luke Sullivan and Josh Hersey consistently working on the offensive end, the Vikings didn’t go away. With 8:15 left in the second, junior Mason Colby entered the offensive zone with a full head of steam, and uncorked a rocket into the upper-left corner of the net. It gave the team some life, and was the lone blemish on Duggan’s otherwise superb day.
The Vikings, however, couldn’t capitalize on the momentum shift.
Maregni opened the third with a ridiculous diving save to keep it a one-goal game, but Duggan responded moments later on the other end with a high-difficulty stop. The two teams traded penalties, until with exactly 1:43 left, a Medfield player caught a popped-up puck in his defenive zone, and for some reason threw it — with his hand — the length of the ice.
Which is indeed a penalty.
So Triton got to finish the game on a power play, and had moments of a 6-on-4 after pulling Marengi. But the four Warriors on the ice were just that — warriors — getting down to block everything in their sight to send their squad to the Division 3 Quarterfinals.
For the Vikings, seniors Jack Lindholm, Aiden Szymanski, Kyle Regnier, Cam Neary and Alex Davis will be sorely missed. But, the program is in line to return a bulk of its talent in 2024-25.
Regarding this year’s seniors, the Triton Hockey X account said: “Thank you for your tremendous leadership and for representing your school with such pride.”
Medfield 2, Triton 1
Medfield: 1 1 0 — 2
Triton (12-10): 0 1 0 — 1
Division 3 Round of 16
Goals: M — Owen DuRoss, Ben Lusby; T — Mason Colby
Assists: M — Lusby, Charlie Hardiman
Saves: M — Charlie Duggan; T — Gavin Marengi