BROCKTON, Mass. — Behind a pair of goals from senior Daniel Paul, the Oliver Ames boys hockey team skated to a win over Taunton in the Hockomock League opener for both teams.
Paul scored the lone goal of the first period and netted the game-winning goal just over a minute into the third period as Oliver Ames earned a 4-2 win over the visiting Tigers.
“These games can be the toughest sometimes, when you’re holding the pressure and getting a lot of shots,” said first-year OA head coach Jimmy Tierney. “Their goalie played very well tonight, he didn’t make it easy on us. But I think our team did a good job of trusting the process, trusting our gameplan, and knew that if they stuck with it, they’d get the result they wanted.
“The end of the second, we got away from our game there but the boys did a really good job of refocusing for the third period and came out and got the two points.”
Senior Jack Perron doubled OA’s lead with five minutes left in the second period but a late penalty handed Taunton a chance to get back into it, and the visitors cashed in as Connor McGrath made it 2-1 with under a minute to go in the period.
The momentum didn’t carry over into the third for Taunton as the hosts had a fast start to the third. Paul took a feed from Jack Corey — who set him up for his first goal — and roofed a shot 71 seconds into the third to restore a two-goal advantage at 3-1.
“We’ve talked about it since the beginning of the year, it’s easy to do things in the first period but when it’s time to bear down and you’re tired in the third, that’s when you find your leaders, that’s when they step up,” Tierney said. “That’s something Dan Paul has been doing here for four years now, he’s been a consistent leader for this team and he really showed it in the third.”
Taunton sophomore Cam Tomaszycki had a great game in net, recording 45 saves to keep the visiting Tigers in the game. On top of denying OA a handful of times on a 5-on-3 in the second period, Tomaszycki had some key saves on an early man-advantage chance from OA in the third.
That kept the door open for Taunton and McGrath cashed in again, this time with five minutes to go in the third to make it a one-goal game.
But for the second time, Oliver Ames had a quick response. Just over two minutes after McGrath made it 3-2, OA freshman Brenden Teehan batted a loose puck out of the air after Tomaszycki made a big save on a shot from sophomore Shaun Teehan, and OA once again led by a pair, this time at 4-2 with 2:53 left in the game.
“They were rolling three lines and six defense, and we were a bit shorthanded so it can tiresome after a while,” said Taunton head coach Kris Metea. “Then the frustration set in and we started getting in penalty trouble, that killed us. We were in the box too many times, you can’t get into a rhythm like that.
“[Cam] did great. He knew we were missing guys and we’re shorthanded on the season, missing key guys, and he was going to have to step up and he did. He did everything he was supposed to do and then some, I’m proud of him.”
Oliver Ames took control of the play early on, including a shot from Sean McCarthy that hit off the post and stayed out. Their pressure in the offensive end paid off late in the period as McCarthy won a battle down low and Corey quickly shuffled a pass in front that Paul one-timed in for a 1-0 lead.
A late power play allowed Taunton to register over half of their seven shots in the period, the best chance coming off a wrister from McGrath that was gloved by OA goalie Brandon Burke.
OA continued its pressure in the second, peppering Tomaszycki with 22 shots in the middle period alone. A high stick gave OA an early power play but Tomaszycki made a big stop on McCarthy off a pass from Andrew Livingstone, and then at the very end of the man advantage, the Taunton goalie recovered nicely to deny Shaun Teehan on the rebound.
Taunton nearly had a breakaway midway through the period as Colton Scheralis broke free through the neutral zone but OA defenseman Sean Kearns recovered and knocked the puck away.
OA had a 5-on-3 shortly after but couldn’t get one past Tomaszycki. The best chance came when Livingstone had his bid denied and Perron had a chance on the rebound, but Tomaszycki recovered in time for the stop.
With five minutes to go in the second, junior Matt Lawson carried into the attacking zone for OA and the host Tigers got off a couple of shots with a scrum in front before Perron buried it from in close to make it 2-0.
With under a minute to go, Scheralis blasted a shot off the glass behind the goal but the puck bounced back out in front and McGrath was there to tuck it away on a tight angle.
A minute into the third, Corey jumped onto a puck in the neutral zone, pushed it forward to Paul as he streaked into the offensive zone all alone and roofed one to make it 3-1.
Oliver Ames boys hockey (1-0 Hockomock, 4-2 overall) is on the road on Saturday to take on North Attleboro at 6:30. Taunton (0-1, 4-3) returns home to host King Philip at 1:00 on Saturday.