Upset special: Weymouth boys hockey stuns Archbishop Williams in Div. 1 playoff opener

CANTON – In the final minute of the second period, Weymouth High sophomore winger Michael Curry was splattered into the boards in front of the Archbishop Williams bench, sending his helmet skittering across the ice.

It was a fitting snapshot of the night.

As Archies coach Chris Cunningham glumly noted later, hats off to the Wildcats.

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Seeking that elusive signature playoff victory, Weymouth finally found it Wednesday night in the form of a massive upset at Canton Sportsplex. Riding breakaway goals from second-liners Brody Dearden (first period) and Ryan Ferguson (third period), plus 28 saves from goalie Grady Salfity, the 28th-seeded Wildcats stunned No. 5 Archies, 2-0, in the first round of the Division 1 boys hockey playoffs.

Weymouth (10-11-1) advances to play at No. 12 Franklin (14-8) in the Round of 16.

It was the Wildcats' first playoff win since the 2012-13 season when, as No. 14 seed, they upset No. 3 Braintree, 4-3 in OT, in the first round of old Division 1 South tournament. Weymouth had lost eight straight playoff games since then, including a 1-0 heartbreaker to Braintree in Round of 32 last season.

Those struggles are ancient history now, replaced by the memory of being greeted like conquering heroes by the Weymouth fans when they finally filed off the ice Wednesday night.

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"I've never made it past a first-round playoff game in my high school career and I've been on the team for four years," a beaming Salfity said. "This is a huge accomplishment for the boys. Absolutely everyone in that locker room deserves this. Everyone wanted it so bad, and I'm so proud of everyone."

"It's huge," agreed Dearden. "The boys are buzzing. No doubts from any of the boys. Everyone knew they were going to win. In that locker room no one had a doubt. It's awesome, crazy."

The Wildcats' self-belief was high, despite a so-so regular season that included a 1-7 slump from Jan. 10 to Feb. 4 and a dud of a regular-season finale in the form of a 3-2 loss to Whitman-Hanson one week ago.

"It was a reality check, (a reminder) that no game is given, and you have to earn everything," Salfity said of the previous game. "That's exactly what we did here tonight."

Weymouth pulled the upset by smothering an Archies offense that had averaged a robust 5 goals per game during the regular season. The Bishops (16-5-1) had outscored opponents 105-49, for a plus-56 goal differential that towered over Weymouth's modest plus-1 total (62 goals for, 61 goals against). Still, the Wildcats had all the answers for an Archies attack that featured a dynamic first line of Finn Kelly (27 goals, 17 assists, 44 points), Ben Sylvester (14-17–31) and Casey Kelley (10-21–31).

We had Weymouth getting outshot 28-16, although the Bishops could count their truly high-danger chances on one hand, with some fingers left over.

"We just didn't have it offensively," Cunningham said. "We put up a lot of shots, but only a couple were Grade-A opportunities. We weren't able to get in for rebounds and secondary chances. It just felt like we were holding the sticks tight. We couldn't get relaxed. We couldn't get in a rhythm. We just didn't play our game. Very disappointing."

Weymouth coach Pat Kennedy said the coaching staff had drilled into the players the importance of "playing our system and playing within our structure," noting, "We watched a video of our best period of defensive hockey (during the regular season). We talked about how we needed to do the little things – get sticks in lanes, block shots. We did shot-blocking drills on Monday. We talked about how we wanted guys to block shots and we probably had 20 tonight."

Kennedy also pointed out, "With the skill and the size of (Archies') lines, we talked about how we were OK with certain things (like a lot of offensive-zone time for the Bishops) and to not panic, to maintain the structure, and our guys did it."

Dearden's fifth goal of the season opened the scoring 5:02 into the game. The senior captain hurt his shoulder later in the first. He sat out the entire second period but returned for the third, saying, "I was in a lot of pain, but my boys would do it for me, so I gotta do it for them."

Ferguson made it 2-0 with 8:40 left in regulation, sprung by a great pass from senior defenseman Jack Brady. It was Ferguson's eighth goal of the season. Said Kennedy: "He's got a lot of skill and he's got a lot of size. Jack Brady put it tape to tape, and when somebody like Fergie gets a breakaway, that's not something you want if you're the opposing team."

From then on it was just a matter of hanging on, which the Wildcats did in fine fashion, despite getting outshot 9-3 in the third period.

Asked to sum up Weymouth's approach to pulling the upset, Salfity said, "Just play as hard as you can, and why not us?"

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Weymouth boys hockey stuns Archbishop Williams in MIAA playoff opener