On Feb. 19 the Littleton/Bromfield boys varsity hockey team, composed of players from Littleton and Harvard, won a spot in the playoffs after defeating the Oakmont Spartans 1-0. But their season came to an end Monday night, Feb. 24, when the Tigers lost 6-1 to the number-one-seed Northbridge Rams in the Central Division 3A quarterfinal at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough.
The final match of the 21-game season left the Tigers in second place in the Coughlin Conference with a record of 8-12-1 (5-3-0 league). Northbridge has a season record of 19-1-0 (7-1-0 league) and is first in the Russell Conference.
The first three goals of the playoff were scored by Northbridge, the first two coming seconds apart during the first minute of play. The first was scored by Nick Locurto, assisted by Liam Gill, and the second by Alex Smith, with an assist from Ryan Couture. With three minutes remaining, Northbridge’s third and final goal of the first period was scored by Couture, assisted by Smith and Thomas Deguire.
During the second period, both teams scored. Littleton junior Derek Peterson scored the only Tiger goal, the first of the second period, assisted by Littleton junior Timmy Kelleher. Northbridge’s fourth goal was scored by Ryan Chesanek, assisted by Locurto and Evan Stone. The team’s final two goals came in the third period. The first was scored by Zach Fournier and assisted by Gill, and the last by Liam French with an assist from Locurto and Couture. Littleton senior captain goalie Ben Canfield was under pressure all night. He played a full 45 minutes and made 35 saves, while Northbridge goalie Chris Wells played 45 minutes and made 19 saves.
The game against Oakmont on Feb. 19 was the game that pushed the Tigers into the postseason. The only goal was scored by Littleton senior captain Nick Brown, assisted by Bromfield sophomore Maddox Lizotte, 13 minutes into the second period. Canfield played a full 45 minutes and made 25 saves. Oakmont goalie Jake Morin also played 45 minutes and made 30 saves.
“I can’t sum up the season in one sentence. It’s been an amazing season with lots of ups and downs, but we worked hard day in and day out even though we didn’t get the results we wanted. We would never give up,” said Littleton senior captain Sean Mizzoni. “When it comes to heart and passion we had it, but they just put more pucks in the net,” said Littleton senior captain Nick Brown.
Erin Flynn is a Bromfield sophomore.
