RAYNHAM – For the second straight summer, the Natick Chill’s season would end in the New England Future Stars’ Varsity Gold Cup Championship game.
In 2014, they met a powerhouse North Shore Stingrays team in the midst of back-to-back Gold Cup Championships. In 2015, they made a return trip to the finale at the Raynham IcePlex this past Sunday, except this time they were the hunted. The top ranked team with a near flawless record who had a stranglehold on the division for much of the regular season.
The Chill could not spoil the Stingrays’ party in 2014, and were not about to let their party be spoiled on Sunday. A 4-1 win over the Southeastern Grizzlies earning the Chill the 2015 Varsity Gold Cup Championship.
“I know all these guys pretty well,” Chill coach Tyler Kaplan said after his team hoisted the trophy, “Great group of guys, they all gelled together, they all play together… Pretty tight knit group.
“I’m not surprised we are where we’re at."
Just one team had been able to do any damage to those Stingrays team’s in the loss column during their two-year run, the same Southeastern Grizzlies team that took the Natick giant down a peg this year when they topped the then 9-0-0 Chill 4-3 in a shootout back on July 26.
Prior to that loss, the Chill had posted five shutouts in nine games, just once played a game that finished with less than a three-goal margin, were averaging 8.78 goals for and just 1.67 goals against on the season. While the loss was not a tremendous upset – the Grizzlies a very good team in their own right, finishing the regular season at 10-1-1 with the division’s best offense and second best defense – it seemed to shake the seemingly invincible Chill; the goals for per game dropping and goals against rising as they closed the regular season.
The loss showed there was still work to be done.
“They bested us in the shootout a couple weeks ago, that kind of shocked us a little bit,” Kaplan said. “We really wanted the perfect season.
“Ever since they lost that game, they were up for it.”
Both teams, however, were up for the championship contest, as seen through the fast moving first period. There were chances to be had on both ends, but goaltenders Lucas Souza of the Grizzlies and Natick’s Ryan Cote were both on point, thwarting all that came there way during the opening 15 minutes.
The Chill had one last fight on their hands before reaching the top and their road became even longer when the Grizzlies assumed the game’s first lead. Jeremy Lawton won a 50/50 puck, got a step on the defense and beat Cote top corner for the 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the second period.
It was a short-lived lead for the Grizzlies, however, the game drawn back to even 1:23 later. Xander Mavrogiannis netting the equalizer from the slot at 6:58 of the second period.
The score remained 1-1 through the end of the period. With 15regulation minutes to play in the 2015 season, it was still anyone’s game to be had.
“I just went in and I told them, ‘guys, look, it sounds cliché, but it’s about who wants it,’” Kaplan said of the locker room between periods. “We were trying to be too cute, we were trying to dangle through guys, we weren’t playing our style of hockey. In the third period we came out, started chipping and chasing, everybody’s feet were moving, we made some adjustments in the lineup a little bit, got a couple good bounces and went from there.”
It was something of a different Chill team that returned to the ice to start the third period. A far more dominating Natick team at both ends of the ice, a crucial 2-on-1 save by Cote about a minute into the frame to set the tone and preserve the tie, and then an Al Arno rebound score at 3:12 giving the Chill a 2-1 advantage.
With the lead finally in their favor, Natick continued to take off and quickly widened the margin between themselves and the Grizzlies, an Andrew Carr score making it 3-1 at 5:07.
The Chill had assumed control. They were relentless in their third period attack, but Souza kept the upset bid alive and his side’s deficit at a manageable two. It was not until late the game was decided, Dillon Arno netting the shorthanded tally with 2:14 remaining to secure the Varsity Gold Cup Championship.
With the go-ahead and title securing goal, the Arno brothers led the Chill attack in the finale, combining for five points. Al with a game-high three points (1G, 2A) coupled with a pair from Dillon (1G, 1A). Mavrogiannis (1G, 1A) and Scott Reynolds (2A) were also both credited with multiple points in the victory.
