Andover, Ma - The Jr. Reds played a hard fought battle against Chelmsford in the championship game in the Orr Division of the Middle School Development Hockey League (MSDHL). The entire game was back & forth hockey at it's best. The Jr. Reds got on the board first just 5 minutes into the first period with a great positional goal when Cam McGuire beat a sprawled out Chelmsford goalie. Connor Tedesco was credited with the assist. Chelmsford knocked a rebound by Jeremy Willis to end the first in the 1-1 tie. Willis had a fantastic period between the pipes by not allowing the loose pucks to collect in front.
The second period started out with a huge momentum boost when Max Karelas made a great blue line play to keep Chelmsford hemmed in to their defensive zone while they were tired. Karelas made a great last minute effort ripping a shot at the Chelmsford net allowing Jake Parazzo to pick up a loose rebound and find the back of the net. Once again, a down-but-not-out Chelmsford team battled back tying the game With 8 minutes left in the 2nd. Melrose could have given up but their leadership stepped up when it needed to and they fought back. Bo-Bo Botelho took a nice pass from Max Karelas on a beautiful rush and the Chelmsford defense didn't stand a chance. This goal made huge difference on the Melrose bench going in to the 3rd period with a one goal lead.
The Jr. Reds held strong throughout the 3rd period as Chelmsford tested Taglieri in the net. All three lines were all over the Chelmsford defense to the point where Chelmsford was having a hard time getting out of their own zone. The Connolly-Crowell-Platcow line had them pinned on a few shifts but just couldn't bury it. Mercer-Parazzo-Shippee had a number a great chances. While Botelho-Witkowski-McGuire had a scoring chance every time they stepped on the ice. All five defense: Tedesco, Tryder, Moschella, Morreale, & Karelas played a great game especially in controlling the offensive blue line and aggressively giving our offense an extra shot or two each shift. Melrose just seemed to be snake-bitten for a 10 minute stretch. With 3:42 left in the 3rd, Chelmsford finally broke the silence tying the game at 3. After a nice rush by Connor Tryder, Melrose found themselves with an offensive zone faceoff with 1:16 on the clock. A brilliant time out was called by Coach Tryder to get a faceoff plan together. Eric Mercer won a crucial faceoff straight onto the stick Charlie Shippee who ripped a great shot from outside the circle putting the Jr. Reds up by one with just under 2 min to go. Eric Mercer would pick up a loose puck and snipe a rink length shot into the empty net helping put the nail into the coffin for Chelmsford.
It was a great season to see the changes that happened over the final 4wks of the season. The players really showed a better level of consistent effort as the season winded down. The 8th graders that will be moving onto high school next season will be missed!
