Last season, Tewksbury had to travel down to Marlborough to face a nearly identical Wayland team as they did last night. Also last season, Tewksbury won by a 5 goal margin, just as they did last night.
You could see the potential of the Wayland squad when they came to Tewksbury to play the Redmen, but they just couldn't seem to string anything together. And that is where the Redmen stepped in and took over.
Right off the bat in the first period it was easy to tell the Redmen knew this was their game. Just 2:35 into the period, Senior Jack Cash ripped a wrist shot on net that bounced in and out of Wayland Goaltender Ben Boschetto's glove. The puck dropped onto the ice in perfect position for Colin Quinn to put home the puck and give the Redmen an early 1-0 lead.
The ongoing trend in the first period was physicality. I haven't, personally, seen a period like this since the North Andover game earlier this season.
While that trend continued, Tewksbury's command of the game never ceased. Within the last 5 or so minutes of the period, Tewksbury's time on attack skyrocketed, as it seemed they were playing on the powerplay most of the time. Which they were not, until a handful of penalties took place in about a minute, leaving Tewksbury with a 4 on 3 powerplay.
And who else is better to have the puck on the powerplay than a Petti. Ryan, that is, took a pass from Ross Budryk, skated into the zone, performed a very nice deke around a Wayland defenseman, and sniped the puck past Boschetto for Tewksbury's second goal of the period.
The period ended at 2-0, and Tewksbury dominated all 15 minutes. But they were, by no means, done yet.
Tewksbury did, however, open up the second on a rather sour note. Dario Riparo gets called for slashing to give Wayland a powerplay and try to get back into the game. Despite a couple real good chances, nothing could get through Kyle Paquette, who closely resembled a brick wall.
With 12:27 left in the period, Tewksbury had another shot on the PP. A relatively weak PP for the Redmen. It only spurred one solid chance, again by Petti, as he rushed in fighting with a defenseman, putting a backhand on net.
Finally, with 6:41 remaining in the period, Tewksbury got that third goal. The puck was dumped into Wayland's zone, suspected to be icing it seemed by the Wayland players, as there was no hustle to get back to the puck. Pat Leonard beat out the D-man, and backhanded the puck right in front of the net. A speeding Mark Gorman quickly shoveled the puck up and into the back of the net to give the Redmen a 3-0 lead.
But Gorman was not done yet. Just :18 later, he won a 1 on 1 battle in the offensive zone, hopped around defenseman, and backhanded a puck off the crossbar and in for his 2nd goal of the night! Great play by Gorman there in the second period.
Tewksbury was handling Wayland very well in the final minutes of the period. Cycling the puck around the zone, the Redmen put several shots on net, including at least 3 by Captain Budryk himself.
To wrap it up, the third period was much more quiet than the previous two. Some good play on both sides. Wayland kept fighting to get back into it. In the final minute, on the powerplay, Junior Dario Riparo slipped the puck into the back of the night to give Tewksbury the 5-0 lead and sealed the victory for them.
Although the term is overused by myself, Tewksbury truly dominated this game. Wayland really didn't have a shot, in my eyes at least, and the Redmen proved me right.
Before I wrap it up, just want to give props to Jeff Giasullo. After a scary ankle injury in the North Andover game, just a couple weeks back, he has been playing some solid hockey as of late, even if he is not 100%.
Tewksbury plays their next game FRIDAY (rescheduled from Saturday), in Tewksbury, against Boston Latin for the first time of the year. Bo-Lat has not been themselves this year, recording only 1 win in 6 games. But you can never count them out. Game is at 7:30 at Breakaway Ice Center. See you there!
Scoring Summary:
TEW 1-0: Quinn (Cash) 2:35, 1st Period
TEW 2-0: Petti PP (Budryk) 14:48, 1st Period
TEW 3-0: Gorman (Leonard) 8:19, 2nd Period
TEW 4-0: Gorman (Castiglione) 8:37, 2nd Period
TEW 5-0: Riparo (Hamel) 14:40, 3rd Period
