Law's Game-Winner Leads Tantasqua Lax Past Shrewsbury in 2OT

By Nick Beaudoin (@beaudoin91_)

SHREWSBURY - Tonight’s Division 2 Central/West second round matchup between the Colonials of Shrewsbury and the Warriors of Tantasqua was a thriller. Tantasqua prevailed in a matchup that featured double overtime, where Anthony Law scored the game-winner, sending the Warriors to the next round with a 10-9 victory.

What stood out tonight was the play of both goaltenders. Shrewsbury’s Mike Fornal and Tantasqua’s Mike Lucas both played phenomenally and kept their respective teams in the game for the duration.

Shrewsbury opened the scoring with Kyle Spagnuolo getting on the board at the 10:52 mark of the first quarter. Senior captain Matty Ward and Junior captain Chris Campbell rounded out the scoring for the Colonials as Tantasqua’s Mike Frio added two of his own. Shrewsbury led after one.

The second quarter marked some momentum for Shrewsbury as they extended their lead with a few beautiful goals from Alex Cashman and Cole Russo. However, Tantasqua bounced back with good defense that led to offense from Ben Beadury, who had two goals on the evening. Shrewsbury's Alec Buduo closed out the first half with a beautiful goal after collecting a bad pass inside close to the crease, stopping, and finishing as he fell down. It seemed like the Colonials were carrying momentum into the second half with a lead of 6-3.

The Warriors started the second half on fire, storming out of the break with 5 unanswered goals that carried into the start of the fourth quarter. Tom Muir and Mike Frio added one a piece while Drew Darger put two past Fornal. Tantasqua led 7-6 at the end of the third.

Fornal started the fourth with a bad turnover that increased the Warriors’ lead to two. Controversial officiating started to control the game as many parents and fans were getting upset and voicing opinions towards the officials. Anthony Law extended the lead to 9-6 and it seemed all but over from there. But, with some senior leadership, Matty Ward added his second of the night after Alex Cashman completed his hat trick with two goals, and suddenly it was tied at 9 headed to overtime.

The star of the first overtime was Mike Fornal, who made a huge save on Mike Frio early on in the first OT period. The Colonials needed him to step up and he did just that. The first overtime concluded and we headed to our second round of sudden death.

A penalty to Sean Vroman early into double overtime put the Warrior’s on a man-up situation, which spelled trouble from the start for the Colonials. After a nice feed from the left-wing side to the middle of the field, Anthony Law ripped one low on Fornal, sending the Warriors and their fans into cheers.

A heartbreaking loss for the Colonials ended a historic season, but an ultimate triumph for Tantasqua and their program.