On Saturday, Central Mass. hockey fans finally got the matchup they’d been waiting for all season, and it didn’t disappoint.
Top-ranked Shrewsbury and No. 2 Algonquin squared off in the first of two regular-season clashes this season, and both teams showed exactly why each is considered to be the best of CMass Division 3 hockey this year.
Shrewsbury trailed early thanks to a power-play goal by Algonquin's Jake Alpert, but the Colonials' James Tepper tied it in the second, and Tyler Borys netted the winner late in the third for a sterling, 2-1 win. It was the eighth come-from-behind victory for the Colonials this season.
“We’ve got a really resilient team,” Tepper said after the win. “We’ve been able to face a lot of adversity this year and fight through it. Everyone is out to get us, and everyone gives us their best game. Every time we show up to the rink, we know we’ve got to bring it.
“Algonquin is no different, (ranked) number two. We knew we had to come. We got down 1-0 early and fought back.”
For the Tomahawks, it was their first loss this season to a CMass team. The other two other defeats came to quality opponents Hopkinton and Longmeadow.
Algonquin coach Greg Cappello knew Shrewsbury would play harder after it fell behind early.
“We watched them play plenty this year, they’re a great team, and they play from behind with a lot of confidence,” Cappello said. “(Being down) wasn’t going to scare them at all. They’re really good, and they are dangerous when they can face up and look and make plays. It’s a break here or a break there, and we didn’t get the break (against Shrewsbury).”
Cappello was encouraged with the effort, though, despite his team coming out on the wrong end.
“The fact that we’re right there, and we did some really nice things controlling the puck and fighting on pucks,” he said. “We battled really well, and that’s a great takeaway.”
Shrewsbury is 49-3-3 dating to the start of the 2015 season, with its only loss to a Division 3 Central Mass. foe being to Algonquin in a 3-2 shootout in a district tournament semifinal two seasons ago.
Nonetheless, Shrewsbury coach Steve Turnblom said his team passed a big test Saturday.
“They’re a great team over there, and they work hard,” he said of Algonquin. “They have some great defensemen that move the puck and play good defense. It’s a solid team. This is what we need, to play teams like that because you don’t get away with defensive lapses, or not working hard.
“If it isn’t there, you’re going to lose. This is how you get better as a team, playing against good opponents like that.”
Turnblom also said a key defensive adjustment spurred the Colonials' comeback.
‘In the first period, our defensemen were too soft, and our gap was too big,” he said. “We tightened that up in the second and third periods and took away space from our opponent. They played harder in the second and third periods.”
All while Algonquin goalie Matt Bogdanski logged an otherwise incredible effort despite the loss. Bogdanski, who jumped on the scene a year ago as a freshman, won the job outright and has shined since.
“He’s a veteran already because he played plenty last year and the first half of this year,” Cappello said. “He’s a very confident guy, and he’s a very good goaltender.
“He helps us out in a lot of ways, not just being calm around the puck and holding the puck when it’s necessary. He gets out there and fields the puck really well, and he leaves it for defensemen in good spots, and he makes good decisions about when to move it up the walls to wings.”
Bogdanski’s 1.50 goals against average is among the best in CMass Division 3.
“I can’t say enough about (Bogdanski) and how much he does for us,” Cappello said. “It’s a real luxury to have that in a sophomore goaltender at this stage. He’s a real competitive guy. He doesn’t shrink from big occasions.”
Fittingly, the two teams won't meet again until the regular-season finale at 7:40 p.m. Feb. 23 at NorthStar Ice Sports.
Chieftains challenging
One team showing signs of being able to challenge Shrewsbury and Algonquin is Nashoba, which after winning only one of its first seven games, is 4-1-1 since.
The Chieftains' biggest point of the season occurred Monday against Algonquin, when they overcame a 3-0 deficit to tie the game in the third period. After the Tomahawks went ahead with 1:29 to play, Danny Lemanski tied it with 10 seconds left. It was his third goal of the game.
Nashoba coach Trevor Short said he was proud of the way his team responded after falling down early.
“The kids chose to come out poised and physical in the second period down two goals,” he said. “We never had a lead, but the kids continued to work hard and showed a great deal of fortitude.”
Short also said getting a point against the Tomahawks will help his team moving forward and that his team's better play of late can be traced to a number of things, including improving on stick position and line changes, as well as the return of key players to the lineup following following injuries.
The emergence of Lemanski, a freshman, as well as classmate Joe Fontaine, has been critical to the recent surge, and so, too, has been the continued strong play of Ryan LeBlanc and Harrison Carter, two of Short’s senior leaders up front.
Defensively, senior captain Andrew Kerble and sophomore Robbie Carter, who recently returned from a back injury, also have sparked the Chieftains. Short says that duo also brings an important level of physicality to lineup.
Senior Will Andronico, junior Nick Streeter and sophomore Charlie Flinkstrom have contributed important minutes on the blue line, while freshman Jake Agoglia continues to impress in net.
“Selfless play and hate-to-lose mentality against a range of competitors has helped us,” Short said. “Jake is a freshman playing big in difficult games.”
—Contact Chris Kyne at sports@telegram.com. Follow him at @tgsports.