Following the thrilling Division 1A “Super 8” play-in doubleheader Sunday night, the Division 1 North boys hockey tournament bracket has been finalized.
Despite some ups and downs during the course of the season, the St. Mary’s boys hockey team finished the regular season at 12-7-2 and earned the No. 5 seed in the Division 1 North tournament.
“We had a great start to the year, but injuries to some key players caused us to slip a little midseason,” said St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee. “But over the past couple weeks we’ve been getting healthier and it showed when we had a good tournament out in Springfield (at the Cardinal Hockey Classic) to end the season.”
St. Mary’s won’t have an easy path to a North title. First up on the docket is No. 12 Central Catholic, which will be a tough task. Despite finishing the year at 10-9-3, Central plays in a very strong conference (the Merrimack Valley Conference) and has a roster full of juniors and seniors with plenty of experience.
“(Central) played in the Cardinal Hockey Classic with us so we got to watch them play, and they’re a very talented, well-coached team,” said Lee. “We just have to worry about us and how we execute, and if we can play the way we’re capable of playing, I like our chances.”
St. Mary’s and Central will drop the puck Wednesday night (8) at Stoneham Arena.
Also making it into the Division 1 North bracket is Bishop Fenwick, which went 11-7-3 and earned the No. 7 seed. The Crusaders are riding high after a solid close to the season that included a win in the 34th annual Carlin Cup.
Fenwick will take on No. 10 Westford Academy (10-8-2) in the opening round Tuesday evening (5) at Chelmsford Forum.
Rounding out the bracket, Reading earned the No. 1 overall seed after falling to Framingham in the Super 8 play-in game. Despite having a 10-6-6 record, the No. 1 Rockets earned a first-round bye and will play the winner of No. 8 Austin Prep/No. 9 Woburn on Saturday (TBA). Waltham (13-6-1) slotted in at No. 2 with a first-round bye and will play the winner of Fenwick/Westford Academy on Saturday (TBA). Shrewsbury (12-6-3) came in at No. 3 and earned the final first-round bye, playing the winner of No. 6 Melrose/No. 11 St. John’s (Shrewsbury) in the second round on Saturday (TBA).
The remaining matchups are No. 4 Belmont (10-5-5) vs. No. 13 Andover (9-9-2) on Tuesday (7) in Woburn, No. 6 Melrose (11-7-3) vs. No. 11 St. John’s (Shrewsbury) (9-8-5) on Tuesday (7) at Chelmsford Forum and No. 8 Austin Prep (10-7-3) vs. No. 9 Woburn (9-7-4) on Tuesday (6) at Stoneham Arena.