RAYNHAM – The hunter became the hunted on Championship Sunday at the Raynham IcePlex during the 2016 New England Future Stars Peewee Gold Cup Championship.
There may not have been much distance between the two in the final regular season standings, but it was still the top ranked Norfolk County Hawks who spend much of the division’s top title match chasing the Boston Brahmas. A contest that ended with the Brahmas out front by a score of 4-1.
Norfolk County entered the championship game having been in front of the division all season. After a near flawless regular season in which they posted an 11-0-1 record, they moved on to post a comfortable, 7-3 victory over the Southeastern Grizzlies in the semifinal. Setting out to prove their worthiness as the division’s top seed, they took control of the game early, Brady Vitelli scoring in the game’s opening minutes to give the Hawks a 1-0 advantage.
They controlled early, but as game’s opening period wore on, the Brahmas began to take over. The chances began to pile up and eventually Boston broke through late, Declan Walsh with the score to send the game to its first break tied 1-1.
The middle frame followed a similar course as the Brahmas held the puck and their scoring chances began to grow in numbers. Thanks to some timely saves from Hawks netminder Aaron Matthews and some timely struck posts by the Brahmas, however, only one goal was scored in the second. An upstairs backhander by Shane Dwan gave Boston a 2-1 lead after 30 minutes.
Despite having the division’s second best offense, it was defense that was the key to the Brahmas success, and one of the guiding principles through the low-scoring championship match with the Hawks.
“I think it was making sure we had a solid backstopper and the defense,” said Brahmas head coach Sean Capplis. “I like to build the team going that direction. Goaltending, defense and then preaching to the forwards to be aggressive.”
The goaltending on both ends – Matthews for the Hawks, Zach Badger and Nick Buccella for the Brahmas – kept the game close. While Boston’s backend held firm, their offensive pressure continued to build in the third and that offensive aggressiveness eventually broke through. Two more scores gave them the distance they needed to secure their trophy.
“I thought the goaltending was terrific,” Capplis said. “I thought there could have been a lot more goals except for the two goalies were fantastic.”
The Boston Brahmas claimed the 2016 Peewee Gold Cup Championship with a 4-1 victory over the Norfolk County Hawks.
