ATTLEBORO, Mass – After recording 15 shots in the first period, Taunton was in control of the play, but had yet to find the back of the net. That changed in the second, as the Tigers found the breakthrough, grabbed momentum, and then tacked on two more goals in quick succession to break open Sunday afternoon’s game at the New England Sports Village.
Taunton added a fourth in the third period to beat Attleboro 4-0. It was an ideal win for the Tigers, who are battling for a spot in the state tournament. Not only did they get the result, but they also added the margin of victory bonus and freshman goalie Cam Tomaszycki recorded his first career shutout.
“Between COVID and injuries and the flu, it’s been one guy in, one guy out, two guys in and three guys out, no continuity, but the last week we’ve been able to have solidified lines in practice and some sort of rhythm,” said Taunton coach Kris Metea about his team’s three wins in the last four games.
“You can definitely see it with the boys,” he continued. “In the last week, we’ve finally gotten three lines that have been healthy. We’ve been playing with 10, 11, 12 players and to have some energy and to have the guys not be tired when they hit the third period has been nice.”
The visitors came out flying from the opening face-off and immediately put the Bombardiers on the back foot. Despite the pressure and having far fewer scoring chances (being outshot 15-5 in the first), Attleboro still managed to get several quality looks on goal.
Nate Parker created a good opening for Attleboro five minutes into the game when his forechecking forced a turnover in the attacking zone. He fed the puck back to Nathan Conroy, but Tomaszycki (12 saves) had a quick glove to prevent a shorthanded goal.
Taunton was able to create some noteworthy chances on that power play. Colton Scheralis played the puck up the far boards and into the path of Nathan Fernandes, who fired a shot from the right wing circle that was blockered aside by Attleboro goalie Nick Piazza (36 saves). Loran Corcoran then had a blast from the other side that Piazza kicked away.
Tomaszycki wasn’t tested often but he had to be alert to deny a tip in front off the stick of either Conroy or Austin Bessette. He also showed quick reactions to get a pad on a deflected shot from the point by Dane Holske. Scheralis had a good shorthanded chance for the Tigers in the final two minutes with a steal at his own blue line and long rush up ice that ended with Piazza denying his close-range backhander.
Attleboro nearly provided a shock at the start of the second period. Sean Marshall went on a weaving rush from his own defensive zone and got all the way to the slot on the other end only to have Tomaszycki make the save.
Taunton finally broke the deadlock just about two minutes later, with its first shot of the period. Fernandes took advantage of a turnover to get free beyond the right wing circle and his wrister went high to the glove side past an unsighted Piazza.
Metea said, “First goal is always important. You need to play with the lead because it changes the game. If they had capitalized and gone up 1-0 then it changes the whole momentum of the game, so it was great to get the first one. Our captain stepped up and made a nice play.”
The Attleboro goalie made amends almost immediately after giving up the goal when he flashed a glove to rob Dillon Parker on a breakaway. Corcoran also tested the Attleboro goalie with a shorthanded slap shot from the point. Attleboro’s best chance came with five minutes left in the period, when a slip gave Michael Lachance a free run on goal but Tomaszycki stayed tall and then the freshman also was well-positioned to save a tip from right in front.
After nearly allowing Attleboro to tie it, Taunton broke the game open with two goals in just 26 seconds. Fernandes got the first with another seeing-eye wrist shot and Connor McGrath made it 3-0 when his wrister on a two-on-one also found its way past Piazza.
“Once you get the first one, hopefully you get the momentum and the second one comes pretty quickly, so once they had the momentum and that confidence then they were able to keep going,” Metea explained.
Nick Fernandes had a chance for the Bombardiers early in the third period, but his backhander from the slot was kicked away by Tomaszycki. Piazza twice denied Nathan Fernandes his hat trick. The first was on a shot from the edge of the crease that the Attleboro netminder smothered and then he stopped another breakaway chance, closing up the five-hole to keep it a three-goal deficit.
Scheralis would put the game away for the Tigers with six minutes to go. He went on a long rush up the right wing, before angling towards goal. His patience forced Piazza to open up and then the defenseman slipped the puck under the pads for a 4-0 lead. Taunton finished with a 40-12 edge in shots.
“Power rankings change the whole dynamic of everything,” said Metea when asked about how to approach the third period leading 3-0. “Every moment of a game becomes more important. It’s not just the matter of getting the win, now it’s the matter of making sure you have the three-goal margin, after that making sure you don’t give up a goal. It’s great for the kids because every game is important.”
Taunton (5-8-1) will try to keep its momentum going on Monday when it travels to Foxboro. Attleboro (0-11-0) will travel to league leader Franklin on Wednesday.