Fast start propels BBA into D-II semifinal - Bennington Banner

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MANCHESTER -- Forced to wait three extra days to start its playoff run, the No. 6 Burr and Burton boys hockey team had a lot of pent-up energy.

As soon as the puck dropped on Wednesday against No. 11 Milton in the Division II playoffs, BBA was ready.

Taylor Casey scored less than two minutes in to get the offense rolling and the freshman had a two-goal, two-assist effort to lead the Bulldogs to a 6-4 win over the Yellowjackets to advance to the semifinals.

"It's always nice when they come out on fire," said BBA coach Mark Slade. "We talked about starting off [quickly] because we hadn't in the past few games. So a focus for us was to start strong and carry that momentum, rather than playing catch-up."

Casey started the game with a terrific individual effort, maneuvering through a pair of Milton defenders before firing a shot past Yellowjacket goalie Teddy Munson.

With the momentum of the opening goal coursing through the Bulldog players' veins, Burr and Burton doubled the lead less than six minutes later. Dominick Miceli zipped a point blank snipe past Munson, off an assist from Jack McCoy to go up 2-0.

"That goal came from simply following the game plan that we set out to follow," Slade said. "We had an idea of what we could do to be successful and that was the result of following that plan."

The pace slowed a bit in the second period, but BBA kept up the pressure, especially on defense. Milton shots were few and far between and for every challenge, BBA goaltender Michael Hornby was up to the task, turning away each.

Hornby came up with 22 saves on 23 shots.

A few minutes into the second, Jakub Mulac made it 3-0, scoring off a rebound. The original shot came from Casey, who got an assist, as did senior Mark Carthy.

A crazy sequence early in the third put the game basically out of reach. About a minute-and-a-half into the third period, a Milton shot dinged off the crossbar and the referee made a signal that looked like a goal had scored. Then the referee waved off the score, and restarted play with a faceoff in the BBA zone. The Bulldogs won the faceoff and immediately went down to the offensive end, where Casey was on the spot again, scoring off an assist from Mulac for a 4-0 lead.

Twenty-two seconds later, Mulac scored his second goal of the day, tallying off assists from Taylor and Riley Casey to go ahead 5-0.

"Anytime you can play three [solid] periods of hockey is a good game," Slade said. "We were fortunate that the boys were focused and they took care of their jobs. In the playoffs, that's what we need to be successful."

The Yellowjackets weren't done fighting. Riley Zeno got Milton on the board with six minutes left, off a rebound that tipped off Hornby.

In the final minutes, BBA switched to its backup goalie and Milton pulled its goaltender, getting a 6-on-5 advantage. Milton's Cooper Goodrich scored on the advantage with 2:27 left to make it 5-2 and less than a minute later, Jaxon Schaarchmidt tallied on the power play, assisted by Zachary Kay and Zeno to pull within 5-3.

But the rush was too little for the Yellowjackets as defenseman Emmett Edwards flicked a clear down the ice and into the empty net for the Bulldogs' sixth goal. Jimmy Campbell scored with 3.2 seconds left for Milton's final tally.

"We're happy to play any day this year," Slade said. "With so many teams dropping out these past few days, we all feel fortunate to come to the rink and play the game that we love. We've got a shot and we want it."

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Fast start propels BBA into D-II semifinal - Bennington Banner
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