RallyNorth.net

Wed, Mar 05, 2008 07:30 PM @ Neutral Location

Team	1	2	3	Final
Playoff Game Division 2 North -Semifinals
Peabody	0	1	0	1
Wilmington	2	0	2	4

Hot goalie cools off Peabody's playoff dreams

Wednesday, March, 05 By Phil Stacey
Sports editor

SALEM | Mike Cabral had a pretty good idea of what he'd be facing against the high octane Peabody High offense last night.

"They did everything I figured they would: storm the net, crash for rebounds, throw a ton of shots at me," Wilmington's all-league goaltender remarked. "They put constant pressure on me and kept me on my toes almost the entire game. I tip my hat to them."

Essentially, the Tanners did just about everything they wanted to do offensively.

Except score.

Cabral was the main reason why. Doing everything from using his stick as a paddle along the ice surface to gloving shots like a shortstop snares grounders, the senior keeper turned aside 36 of the 37 shots fired his way while giving up scant few second chances in front of him.

That's why top-seeded Wilmington is moving on to their first North final in nine years, thanks to a 4-1 victory over the valiant Tanners in last night's Division 2 North semifinal at the Rockett Arena.

"He stopped everything we threw at him," Peabody captain James Noftle said outside a somber Peabody locker room after the contest. "No matter what we tried, he always seemed to find a way to stop it."

After being outplayed over the first 15 minutes of play and staring at a 2-0 deficit, the Tanners didn't just turn up the heat; they blasted the furnace over the final two periods, pelting Cabral with 27 shots while continually buzzing inside Wilmington territory.

But only once were the fifth-seeded Tanners able to cash in on their many chances, coming when sophomore Matt Rodgers pounced on a loose puck 15 feet in front of Cabral and ripped a slapshot past him far side seven minutes into the middle stanza.

Other than that, Cabral wasn't forced to make many spectacular saves. He made plenty of stops, to be sure, but the actual high percentage scoring chances were not in abundance. That was due in large part to a Wildcats' defense that used its greatest assets | size and strength | to push the Tanners off the puck, against the boards or away from potential rebounds.

"They were very strong in the slot area and clogged the middle very well," Peabody coach Mark Leonard remarked. He went on to call this year's team, which finished 17-6 and reached the North semifinals for the first time ever, "my favorite team of all time."

"They're not flashy, but they're so strong and they do all of the little things well. And (Cabral) ... he played great in the second period. That's when we had our chances to (tie it up), but he kept denying us."

Noftle, who assisted on Rodgers' goal and finished his four-year career with 102 points (51 goals, 51 assists), said the speed advantage his team had hoped to use was negated by the aggressive Wildcats.

"They were definitely the biggest team we've seen. The most physical, too," Noftle remarked. "Their size and reach with their sticks kept us from going around them."

Still, the Tanners only trailed by a goal (2-1) and were continuing to carry the play in the third period when Eric Siegal struck. Stealing the puck behind the Peabody net, he swung out front to goalie Jonathan Camara's left and roofed a high wrist shot to give Wilmington a 3-1 lead with 8<1/2> minutes to play.

It was eerily similar to the game-winning goal Siegal scored on Sunday night to beat Danvers in the quarterfinals, 2-1, where he waited patiently for the goaltender to make his move before shooting it high into the spot where the keeper had just vacated.

Cabral, a three-year varsity starter, seemed to get bigger in net after that goal. He held his ground while Peabody had a 5-on-3 advantage for 30 seconds, where a Tanners' goal would have been enormous. In addition, his defense tightened up, going to a trap system over the final five minutes, and eventually Siegal iced it with a shorthanded, empty net goal in the final minute.

"Michael was the difference for us," Wilmington coach Steve Scanlon said of his goaltender. His team (16-2-4) is now two wins away from the program's first-ever state championship and will play in Saturday's sectional final against No. 2 seed Tewksbury (8 p.m. in Chelmsford) for the first time since falling to Saugus in 1999.

"Peabody does a lot of disruptive things on offense and really get a lot of shots on net. They have that two-high system with a couple of floaters and really know how to generate offense. That's why it was so important that Michael played as well as he did."

Don't look at this game and think that Peabody didn't play well. In one of the program's greatest-ever seasons, they executed their game plan well last night and did everything that could have been expected of them.

What they couldn't control, however, was how exceptional Cabral would play.

"They're a classy team with a great coach and goaltender," Leonard said of the Wildcats. "I hope they win it all."

Additional stories:

• Slow start handcuffs Peabody in North semifinal loss