By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff
Editor-In-Chief
The sting of losing to Dual County League rival Wayland in last year’s state tournament has stayed with the boys’ hockey team for a long time.
The hunger, the lust to get back to those meaningful games in March, to create some madness of their own, was planted just about a year ago, cultivated through a productive preseason and preserved and cared for during a 17-2-1 regular season that earned the team a number one seed in the North Division.
They are now ready to reap the rewards.
“The loss last year gave us a taste of what it is like to go that far and have it all be taken away so quickly,” junior defenseman Andrew Wales said. “I know that all of the returning guys still have that bad taste in their mouth from that loss to Wayland.”
South has already beaten Bedford twice this season, but that does not mean the team is taking this match-up lightly. They are preparing for a gritty battle against a team looking for some revenge.
“I think my coach said it best. Beating a team three times in one year is very hard to do,” Wales said. “We know Bedford will be excited coming off their win and will play us very hard, as they usually do.”
South has boasted one of the best goal-scoring attacks in the state this season, which helped it go undefeated in league play this season. The team put up eight goals in the MVC/DCL clincher against Weston, which followed a nine-goal game against Lowell.
The Lions success has come from a variety of sources this season. Just look at that last game against Weston. Senior captain Griffin Connolly and senior Hampus Samuelsson each found the back of the net four times, with junior Thomas Tresca dishing out eight assists for the game.
Seniors Edward Friedman and Sean Hart have both also been key contributors to the Lions’ success, in addition to Wales and fellow defenseman, senior captain Connor Kee. Goalie Chris Olssen leads the Lions defensive effort, which has high hopes of a deep playoff run.
Led by this defense, the team has already beaten the former state champs in Shrewsbury by a score of 4-1, while also beating a Dracut team that gave them tough match-ups every period last season, 3-0, which clinched a playoff birth.
Now, though, the team’s focus is on Friday night.
“The goal every year is to compete to the best of our ability and to continue to play well. Obviously we want to make it far in the tournament but we can’t do that without taking it one game at a time. Our focus for now is on Bedford,” Wales said.
After receiving a bye in the first round, number one Newton South will look to keep up its success from the season at 7:45 p.m. at the JAR. The team as a whole expects the crowd to be there, and be lively. The boys feed off a large fan section’s high energy and excitement.
“We want to play our best not only for ourselves but for the fans. We can’t express enough how helpful a huge fan section is,” Wales said. “The only way to say thanks is to put the puck in the net.”
