The Vineyard girls and boys hockey teams were victorious in the first round of the playoffs Thursday with the girls winning a double overtime thriller 3-2 over Dedham and the boys soundly defeating Greenfield 10-0.
At Bajko Rink in Hyde Park, the girls had their work cut out for them as they clawed back twice from one-goal deficits before finding their groove and sailing home with the dub. Issy Blake notched all three Vineyard scores for a hat trick and Elle Mone delivered a clutch assist on the game-winner.
The dramatic finish came two shifts into the second overtime period of three on three hockey. Coach Geoghan Coogan said it was an “absolutely beautiful play between Issy and Elle, [Mone] slipped just a beautiful pass over to Issy and boom, it was pretty cool.”
Having last year’s playoff experience under their belt was an advantage for the girls this year. The increased intensity wasn’t novel and when overtime hit Coach Coogan said his team was ready to strike.
“We were pretty confident going into overtime, we do a lot of small area game stuff in practice. We play a lot of four on four and three on three so the girls said, ‘We’ve done this, this is us,’” the head coach said.
Up next is a rematch with fifth-ranked Algonquin on the road at a date and time yet to be determined. The Vineyarders lost to the Titans earlier this year in the consolation game of the Nan Rheault tournament.
“We do know them, we know what they’ve got and it’s playoff hockey now so anything goes,” Coach Coogan said.
On the boys side of the bracket, the Vineyarders took care of the Green Wave at home with a focused and determined effort from start to finish.
Zach Mathias was excellent in net with 18 saves in the shutout. Aiden Conley scored a hat trick in the second period with his first coming under a minute after the opening faceoff. His brother Liam also scored twice and had an assist.
The boys play Ashland on Sunday
— Ray Ewing
The other Vineyard goals came from Robby Pachico, Nate Averill, Griff Callahan, Max Metell and Adrian Alberghini. Pacheco, Averill, Callahan and Metell also had assists. Chase Toomey had two assists and Sol Donnelly and Ben Kokoszka each notched assists as well.
Up next is another home game on Sunday against Ashland with the start time yet to be determined. The Vineyarders and Clockers had one mutual opponent this season, Hopkinton. The Vineyard was defeated in the final seconds of overtime by them in the opening round of the Fairleigh Dickinson Tournament 5-4. While Ashland, who plays in the same conference as the Hillers, tied and lost in their two meetings.
