Blue Knights Slay Cohasset/Hull in Playoff Beatdown

There’s just something about playoff hockey at Gallo. The packed arena was the site of a dominant 5-1 Blue Knights’ victory over Cohasset/Hull in the round of 32. After a relatively even first period, Sandwich turned it on and cruised the rest of the way.

Nick Buckland broke the ice at the tail end of the opening frame when a bouncing puck found him all alone in the slot. When it settled on his stick, he roofed a beauty past Skippers’ goaltender Patrick Cosentino. Despite the loss, Cosentino was outstanding, stopping 40 of 45 shots. 

Max Colley netted his first of two goals midway through the second. A Cohasset/Hull defender attempted to clear the zone by flipping the puck up ice. Colley snagged the puck out of mid air with his glove, dropped it to the ice, and wristed a shot into the top right corner.

Sandwich Coach Jordan Mohre credited the “maroon line” for providing a spark that got the team going.

“Really nice to see our third line, the maroon line, getting going there. It got us the energy that we needed, a huge spark right before we scored.”

Colley’s goal seemed to break the dam for Sandwich, as two quick scores would follow. Reece Mackinnon tallied a goal on an assist from Declan Cochrane and less than a minute later Buckland added his second unassisted goal of the night to make it 4-0.

The Skippers were not quite ready to pack it in just yet, however, as winger Matt Thomas potted a goal with 1:51 remaining in the period off assists from James Muldowney and Taighe Dwyer to make it 4-1. There were moments in the game when Cohasset/Hull pushed hard, but Sandwich goaltender James LaMontague was up to the task, turning aside 19 of 20 shots. 

Coach Mohre kept it simple when describing his performance: “Huge saves from James LaMontague in big moments.”

The dagger came with 9:22 remaining in the third period, and it was a thing of beauty. On an odd-man rush up ice, Nick Buckland zipped a beautiful pass across the zone with a Skippers’ defender draped all over him. The puck found the stick of a streaking Braeden Tobin, who one-timed it off the post and in.

And that would be it, as the Blue Knights advanced to the round of 16 with a 5-1 victory. Coach Mohre reacted to his team’s win after the game.

“I think we had to shake off some of the rust in that first period. First five was tough. Then we kind of got into what we did. Nice to get a goal at the end of that first period, kind of reward that effort.”

The Blue Knights will look to build off their momentum on Sunday when they host St. Bernard’s with a round of 8 spot on the line. Puck drop is at 3:30.