Island Defended: Vineyard Manhandles DY in Round of 32

Dennis-Yarmouth ferried back to the mainland from a snow-covered Martha’s Vineyard Friday night after suffering a season-ending playoff loss to MVRHS.

The Vineyarders began their road to the Garden with a dominant 6-0 victory to advance to the round of 16.  It was clear from the start that they were the faster, stronger team. Winger Ryan Heidt led the way with a goal and two assists. Center Griff Callahan had two goals on the night and Ben Kokoszka also had two points with a goal and an assist. The offensive explosion was backed by an outstanding shutout performance by netminder Russel Coogan.

Puck possession was dominated by the Vineyard. Any fast breaks that the Dolphins had were quickly shut down by relentless backchecking. After Kokoszka opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game, defenseman Ryan Heidt zipped a shot through the five-hole of DY goalie Isiaiah Stacey. The powerplay goal put the Vineyarders up 2-0. 

Perhaps the most demoralizing moment for DY came with just 55 seconds left in the first when Callahan buried a goal off assists from Heidt and defenseman Angus Cummin. Cummin was flying all over the ice for the entire game, using his speed and strength to dominate the hapless Dolphins.

With a 3-0 lead after 1, the Vineyarders were on cruise control.  Amos Sauer buried his first career goal on a gritty rebound chance. 15 seconds later, Joe Medeiros cleaned up a bouncing puck in the crease to make it 5-0. Medeiros skated over to celebrate in front of the roaring “Vineyard Mob” student section. The final goal was the cherry on top.  Late in the third, Callahan found the back of the net on a Heidt assist. It was the exclamation point on both of their performances.

Vineyard Alternate Captain Max Metell gave his thoughts on some of the physicality seen in the game. 

“We can't deviate away from our gameplay. Sometimes it ramps off, but we know the way we play. We play and it works, we succeed, so we just don’t want to deviate from that.

The Vineyarders could face another Cape team in the round of 16. They await the winner of Bourne vs. Hudson on Saturday. Griff Callahan chimed in what the message needs to be going forward in the tournament:

“One game at a time, doesn't matter who we're playing, it’s the playoffs. We know what we have to do, and it's just gonna get harder from here.”