STONEHAM — Any time the neighboring cities meet in a rink, Tewksbury and Billerica are enjoying for one thing larger than themselves.
With the satisfaction of its city behind each stride, a Tewksbury-Billerica boys hockey matchup by no means fails to convey the depth.
However the subsequent time the storied rivals meet on the ice, the stakes shall be that a lot larger. After No. 4 Tewksbury romped previous No. 12 Malden Catholic, 5-2, in Div. 4 Elite 8 motion on Thursday, the Redmen superior to the Closing 4 for the third time within the final 4 seasons to safe a rematch with the top-seeded Indians.
The groups have been on a collision course all season, sitting atop the Div. 2 Energy Rankings for the size of the winter. Billerica (21-1-1) downed Tewksbury, 5-2, in a January common season contest.
“Very exciting,” Redmen head coach Derek Doherty mentioned. “The boys are ready to go, and I’m sure Billerica’s ready to go. It should be a great match.”
Tewksbury (18-4-1) made no mistake in securing one other shot on the Indians in entrance of a packed crowd at Stoneham Enviornment.
Jake Cunha scored two objectives as Michael Macauda, Anthony DiFranco and Jason Lavoie rounded out the scoring. David Kalberg made 16 saves.
Holding a 14-3 edge in photographs on purpose within the first interval, Tewksbury tallied a trio of objectives to determine an early lead. After Cunha opened the scoring with a shot from the purpose, Macauda and DiFranco lit the lamp and elevated the result in 3-0.
“We knew if we could get a little bit of a lead that it would be tough for them to come back,” Doherty mentioned. We needed to leap on them immediately.”
DiFranco’s blast from the underside of the left circle got here on a five-on-three, blistering a rebound high shelf with 1:09 left within the first.
“It means way more,” DiFranco mentioned of a duel with Billerica. “More intensity, more everything. We just can’t wait to get back.”
Malden Catholic (5-17-1) hit the ice with a objective to start out the second, slicing into the deficit on the 11:31 mark as Michael Doe beat Kalberg whereas flying down the best aspect of the ice.
However Tewksbury responded to the push as Lavoie potted an influence play tally with 3:41 to play within the second because the Redmen nursed a 4-1 benefit into the third stanza.
Whereas the Redmen maintained a constant offensive zone presence, Brody MacMaster discovered the again of the guess with 4:27 left within the third to aim to ignite a comeback, however an effort with the goalie pulled proved to be unsuccessful when Cunha despatched a shot the size of the ice into an empty web with 42 seconds left.
