BOURNE — Wednesday night's matchup in the Division 1 boys' hockey Elite Eight between No. 10 Marshfield High School and No. 18 Arlington Catholic High School was an absolute thriller.
Arlington Catholic's goal with 1:13 left in regulation forced overtime, with both teams battling through 4-on-4 and 3-on-3 frames before going to a shootout. AC scored two goals in a 1-1 victory over Marshfield and won the shootout 3-2, advancing to Saturday's Final Four against No. 11 Winchester.
Marshfield head coach Dan Connolly wasn't too happy.
“The kids played hard on both sides for 61 minutes of hockey and we ended up in a shootout? Like that,” said Connolly, who led the Rams to two state titles and a 378-158-62 record. It's embarrassing that this decision has been made.” In his 25 seasons. “MIAA should be embarrassed.”
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“It's embarrassing that it extends to individual sports,” he said. “Basketball games don’t involve free throw contests; our kids and their kids. [Arlington Catholic’s] Children deserve better. Decide 3 on 3, 4 on 4, 5 on 5, whatever. It's really hard for goalkeepers and shooters to carry all the pressure and all that. That doesn't take anything away from Arlington Catholic. They played very well too. But either way, whoever wins, it's going to be terrible. ”
As stated in the MIAA Handbook, the outcome of tournament games in the rounds leading up to the state finals will be determined by shootouts. “There will be no shootout in the state final championship game. Teams will play 3-on-3 until a winner is determined.” However, regardless of the round, the first overtime is 8 minutes of 4-on-4 with each team receiving one timeout, and the second overtime is 3-on-3 for another 8 minutes.
“It's terrible to lose like that. It's terrible to win like this. It's embarrassing that a game in the prefectural tournament is decided like this. It's going to ruin a high school student's career in an individual tournament.” “Football isn't about going for field goals,” Connolly said. “I mean, it used to be coming back the next day. We're coming back. These kids are kids. Five-on-five, four-on-four, Just play 3-on-3. One way or another, it will end.”
“You’ve got (Marshfield senior goalie) Kevin Murphy over there,” he added. “(Marshfield senior wing) Tommy Carroll feels like crap for missing out. He feels like he let the team down, but he didn't. He played his best. But people remember him missing that last shot he took up high.'' …Hopefully they would have kept playing. ”
Marshfield, ranked 10th and eliminated from the Elite Eight for the second year in a row, finished the season with a record of 18 wins, 4 losses, and 3 draws.
