FALMOUTH—In the regular-season finale for both teams, Falmouth’s boys’ hockey squad defeated Greely, 5-1, Monday at Family Ice Center.

Tied, 1-1, with under four minutes remaining in the second period, the Class A Yachtsmen scored four unanswered goals, running away from their Class B cohorts.

Senior Nick Samaras and freshman Ben Freeman scored two goals apiece, leading the offensive onslaught for Falmouth, which had been shut out two days prior by Thornton Academy.

“Obviously tonight we went to the front and we got a lot of good goals,” Falmouth coach Adam Nicholas said. “Only one goal was a good clear clean shot. The rest were scrums in front of the net and burying it.”

Greely (14-3-1) tied the score at one apiece 10:46 into the second period. Justin Murphy forced a turnover and slid a pass through the crease to Devyn Rogers who was waiting at the left post to beat Falmouth goalie Dane Pauls down low.

But the Yachtsmen (9-6-3) answered loud and clear.

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Just 1:03 later, Samaras scored off a rebound and 44 seconds after that, Cam Bell did the same, teeing up a long rebound and sending it to the back of the net with a one-timer slapshot.

Kris Samaras and Tim Hanley were credited with assists on the first goal. Brandon Tuttle and Jack Pike assisted on the second.

“To give those two goals back late in the second when we had just gotten a lift from our goal..,”Greely coach Barry Mothes said. “We just didn’t bear down enough.”

Falmouth kept up the pressure in the third, with Samaras and Freeman knocking in rebounds. On a power play 1:17 into the period ,Tuttle shot from the point, Greely goalie Matt Labbe made the initial save but Freeman was there to send it home. Tuttle and Mike MacDowell were credited with assists.

Then 4:51 into the final period, freshman Kris Samaras had his shot saved by Labbe, but his brother, Nick Samaras, was camped at the left post and there to put it away, making the score 5-1.

“We aren’t a dangle team where every guy can go to the net and make a nice move on the goalie,” Nicholas said. “We have to get a shot, get the rebound and try to bury it.”

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Falmouth took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Freeman scored with an assist from Hanley just 1:52 in.

“We were really looking forward to this game,” Mothes said. “This was a big chance to do some things well and get some momentum. Its difficult for me to say tonight gave us any momentum.”

Greely will still be the No. 1 seed heading into the Western B playoffs and will face either Leavitt or Yarmouth in the semifinals March 5, but according to Mothes, they still have plenty of work to do.

“We made some terrible, terrible mistakes with the puck,” he said. “We turned the puck over and couldn’t clear the zone at some crucial times. Against a good, quick, opportunistic team that stuff is going to kill you and it obviously killed us tonight.”

“When you’re playing a quicker, stronger team mistakes get magnified,” Mothes added, “and certainly some of the mistakes we made tonight were magnified.”

Monday’s game was the third meeting of the season between the Family Ice Center roommates. On November 27 in the Greely Icebreaker Tournament they played to a 0-0 tie. On New Years Day Falmouth won the Dudley Cup, 2-0.

“This has been an exciting game on our schedule year after year,” Mothes said. “We were playing for pride. This was our seniors’ last game against Falmouth and they were very aware of that. This game meant a lot to us too. Tonight was a chance to square the season series and we didn’t do it.”

The win moves Falmouth to No. 4 in the Western A Heal Points, vaulting the Yachtsmen past Noble. Falmouth will likely host Noble in the quarterfinals Tuesday of next week.


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