KINGSTON — Don’t just tell your teammates. Show them.
That’s the responsibility senior captain Ben Berian felt to make something happen as his No. 15 Marshfield boys hockey team trailed in the first intermission of a Div. 1 first round matchup Thursday night. And it’s with that spark he needed just 22 seconds into the second period to score the game-tying goal, before scoring an insurance goal in the third to help the Rams (16-6-1) rally for a 3-1 win over No. 18 Natick in front of a packed house at The Bog.
“We can say it all we want in the locker room, right?” Berian said. “But it really all comes down to showing the boys how to lead on the ice, how to play body, how to lay bodies, just doing all the right things on the ice, and that was able to lead us to a win tonight. … All my teammates, they were all pushing for me, I had to push back for them. Only seemed fair.”
The RedHawks, on a 7-1-1 stretch entering the matchup, put Marshfield in that hole early with Rocco DeLuca’s go-ahead goal just 22 seconds in. Rams head coach Dan Connolly had several adjustments in mind between periods, as goalie Brauer Malcolm (19 saves) and a hard-skating Natick group held that 1-0 lead entering the second.
“Wasn’t the start we wanted obviously,” Connolly said. “But the kids were resilient. I don’t think we had a good first, but part of that was the way they play. They play hard, they’re a good club. … We thought we settled it down in the second period.”
The forecheck and how Marshfield was breaking out were chief among Connolly’s discussion points between periods.
Well, just as fast as Natick took the lead in the first, Marshfield tied it up off one of those breakouts. Senior Brendan Kiziuk got it out of the zone ahead to Brendan McLaughlin, who put it on net and leading scorer Berian finished off the rebound to tie it up at 1-1.
“Workhorse,” Connolly said. “He’s not going to be denied. … You’re not going to find a kid that’s going to outwork him, we love coaching kids like that.”
Natick got Marshfield on its heels a bit in response, finishing the second even with it in shots on goal, 9-9. That wouldn’t stop Joe Merrick from netting the game-winner midway through the frame, though, getting a shot from the point through traffic off a Natick defenseman for a 2-1 lead.
“It’s what we tried to preach all game long, get pucks to the net, bodies to the net,” Connolly said. “Merrick got it quick and hit somebody in front. … Good things will happen if you get pucks to the net.”
The RedHawks weren’t done fighting, out-shooting Marshfield 13-6 in the third in an attempt to tie it back up. Connolly felt the Rams did well to limit the dangerous opportunities, and Sal Camera (26 saves) was excellent in net to post a shutout over the last 44:38 of action.
“Sal was great tonight,” Berian said. “He stood on his head when we needed him. … We wouldn’t have won without him tonight, for sure.”
Berian, of course, aided that effort midway through the third, potting a much-needed insurance goal — showcasing his leadership along with McLaughlin, who had a hand on both of Berian’s goals.
