Eagles best Huskies 5-3 in 17th Annual “J.P.” Medeiros Jr. Memorial Cup

Photos and story by Richard W. Dionne Jr. rdionne@eastbaynewspapers.com
Posted 1/4/19

Jacob Andreozzi scored a hat trick and Matt Spears added two more to lead Barrington past Mt. Hope, 5-3, in the 17th annual “J.P.” Medeiros Jr. Memorial Cup at Portsmouth Abbey Ice Arena on …

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Eagles best Huskies 5-3 in 17th Annual “J.P.” Medeiros Jr. Memorial Cup

Posted

Jacob Andreozzi scored a hat trick and Matt Spears added two more to lead Barrington past Mt. Hope, 5-3, in the 17th annual “J.P.” Medeiros Jr. Memorial Cup at Portsmouth Abbey Ice Arena on Wednesday night. The win improves the Eagles’ overall record to 4-5-1 and drops the Huskies’ to 0-5 overall.

The Eagles, who won the Division II championship last year, graduated nine players and moved up to Division I this season. They are 0-4-1 in D-I and are looking to improve their record and make the playoffs.

“We are in the games. We are young; we have no seniors,” said Barrington Head Coach Kevin Croke. “Every week we are getting better and better and we are looking forward to a good run down the stretch. I think we’ll surprise some people.”

The Huskies are 0-4 in Division III, but feel that they are starting to come together as a team.

“Our team is right up to par,” said Mt. Hope Head Coach Joe Dibiase. The first-year coach was a former LaSalle goaltender. He played in the EJHL and at Niagara University before he had a cup of tea with the Providence Bruins as their backup goaltender.

“We are in a lot of close games,” he said. “We have been letting up that one goal right at the end. We have been working on little things every game … We’ve worked on finding ourselves and finding our hockey game. It’s coming along.”

Barrington forward Matt Bates sent Andreozzi in alone on a shorthanded scoring bid with 2:41 left the first period. Andreozzi, skating right to left, beat Mt. Hope goaltender Devon Loiselle on his stick side to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

Andreozzi struck again with the Eagles on the power play with 15 seconds left in the first period. Matt Spears circled around the net and found Andreozzi camped out in front. The junior forward one-timed the pass between the legs of Loiselle to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.

“We have been moving the puck well and putting the puck in the net, which is big,” said co-captain Matt Bates. “There is always room for improvement, but I think that we are starting to gel as a line,” he said of the Eagles’ top line.

With 14 minutes left in the second period, Barrington freshman defenseman Brenen Gazeryan gave the puck to Spears in the Eagles’ defensive zone. The speedy Spears raced the Huskies down the ice and top-shelved a nasty backhand by Loiselle on his stick side to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead.

Mt. Hope kept battling.

Despite the 3-0 lead, the Huskies still had something to say about the contest.

Senior center Cam Rancourt sped into the Eagles’ zone and headed toward the right post. Defenseman Michael Cox cut the big forward off and he took a shot on Eagles net minder Stephen Amaral. The rebound came right back to Rancourt and he found Jared Rego trailing the play. Rego directed the pass into the net and the Huskies cut the lead to 3-1 with 11 minutes left to play in the second period.

“I hit the goalie hard,” said Rancourt, the team’s co-captain. “I turned and looked to shoot, but I saw number six screaming down. I gave him a wide open net, and he put the biscuit right in the basket.”

Rancourt took the puck into the Eagles’ zone with 4 minutes left in the period, split the defense and wristed a shot past Amaral for the Huskies’ second goal, to make the score 3-2.

The Huskies tied the game 41 seconds into the third period on a power play goal by forward Dave Benevides. Rancourt slid the puck back to defenseman Tim Byrne, who blasted a shot on Barrinton sophomore goaltender Matt Hosey. Benevides raced toward the net with Eagles defenseman Owen Crain on his back and slid the rebound by Hosey to tie the game 3-3.

“The D kept it in and got a shot on net,” said Rancourt. “David caught it and put it in on his backhand. We just had to keep it going, but we couldn’t.”

The tie was short lived, as Spears scored less than a minute later from in front of the net. Andreozzi put the puck on net and Spears shot the rebound past Mt. Hope goaltender Brett Therien to give Barrington a 4-3 lead.

The Eagles’ scoring duo iced the game with 3:18 left in the third period. This time Spears found Andreozzi in front of the net and he backhanded a shot past Therien to give the Eagles a two-goal cushion and a 5-3 victory.

“The Huskies were physical tonight,” said Bates. “They came out to play with energy and we came out a little flat footed. They are a good team, and they have a rivalry with us. There’s a history. There’s a lot to be said about a rivalry game and what it can bring out of a team. I think that it took us by surprise.”

“This game mean’s a lot,” said Rancourt. “I played football this year and in the Thanksgiving Day game, and it’s nice to play them twice a year. It’s great people and a good crowd comes out.”

“It’s a tough game.” Rancourt said. “They’re a good team. It’s always good to get out there and play them and play up to their level and give them a good game.”

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