State Championship Preview

Boys hockey is the first team at Medfield this year to make it to the the State Title Game in their respective sport. It also the first time hockey has every made the final game. Twenty years ago in 1994 the team lost to Westwood 6-3 in the Eastern Mass Final, one game away from the championship game. That was the previous gold standard until this year.

Medfield will face Beverly, who are also making their first appearance in the championship game. For the Panthers the road to the Garden has been a pretty smooth one. Bevrely went 18-1-1 in the regular season, losing their final regular season game to Division I Weymouth. The tie came back in December to none other than Canton.

In the opening round of the playoffs, Beverly faced Danvers and really struggled, but battled to a 2-1 win in a shootout. From there, they met a tough Lincoln-Sudbury team and made quick work of them, winning 5-1. In the North Regional Final Beverly dismantled Tewksbury 9-1 at Tsongas Center in Lowell.

Go Figure 
Last year both teams finished with an 18-1-1 record and the one seed in their respected regional... both lost 4-3 in the first round of the playoffs. Granted Medfield was in Division III at the time and the loss was in a shootout, but it is an interesting thing to look at.

In 2012 (as if it matters what happened two years ago) Beverly again lost in the first round, but were not the one seed.

Scouting the Panthers
Beverly is led offensively by senior Conner Irving, who had 47 points in the regular season and, oh by the way, added four goals in the North Final against Tewksbury. Junior Nick Albano posted 36 points in the regular season with a 7-29-36 line.

In goal Tim Biraelli will get the start. Biraelli has a .917 save percentage in 14 appearances. In his time in goal, he posted a 1.51 goals against and has five shutouts.

The game is Sunday night, 7:45 at the Boston Garden.