LOWELL – Besides the actual team celebration when the game was over, there was a great moment during Monday night’s win over Danvers that really stuck out. After scoring his third goal of the game coming with just 7:58 left in the second period, Wilmington High junior forward Brendan McDonough was at the left hand circle and pumped his fists, while looking up. Apparently he was thanking the ‘Hockey Gods’ who helped this very talented kid become the star of the game in which he clearly dominated from start to finish.
McDonough couldn’t be stopped during Monday’s 7-2 Division 2 North sectional championship win over Danvers at the Tsongas Arena. He scored three goals in the first 21:02 of the game, before adding an assist later on, and two of his goals were dynamic individual efforts. All three of his goals were set up by Cam Owens, but it was McDonough who polished off those chances, finding the back of the net all three times.
“They both played great,” Scanlon said of the Owens and McDonough combination. “And that’s a great line, (along with Jake Rogers). That’s a high octane line that can move the puck very well and they get good results. They can really stretch a defense out.
“McDonough is a sniper and we have been getting after him to shoot a bit more. He has a real good shot. He’s bigger than he seems. He’s put together pretty good and he can push you off the puck. I like the (goal) where he took the kid wide, put his shoulder down and drove right to the crease and put it in. Cam usually has the big games but tonight it was Brendan’s turn.”
It’s been Brendan’s turn for quite some time. He has really stepped up his game throughout the tournament, and next year, if he adds a little bit more weight, he’ll be one of the state’s best players and one who could dominate every game. He dominated on Monday, scoring his first goal of the game with 3:33 left in the first period. He kept the puck just inside the Danvers’ zone, before moving slightly to his left and skating through two defenders before unleashing a hard wrist shot from the low left circle to the far top corner giving the ‘Cats a 2-0 lead after the first period.
Just 50 seconds after Danvers cut the lead in half, McDonough scored the game’s winning goal. Owens banked a pass off the right hand boards and McDonough retrieved it just inside the Danvers blue line. He had a Danvers’ defenseman right on him, but instead of trying to do the toe drag and all of that, McDonough simply put his shoulder into the defender, skating right to the net before putting a one-handed shot through the five hole of the goalie for a very impressive highlight tally.
He wasn’t done. Three minutes and four seconds later, he completed his hat trick. Owens took a cross check to the back of his neck while chasing a puck in the right hand corner, and on the delay penalty call, he was able to find McDonough wide open off the right hand post and he unleashed a quick shot to the low left side putting Wilmington up 4-1.
“I’m finding the back of the net a lot more (this year) and I’ve had more points this year and I think that’s just because I’m playing with Cam and Jake,” said McDonough. “They both are Grade-A players who always get me the puck when I’m open.”
McDonough added that it doesn’t matter if he’s the open player or if it’s someone on the third line or if it’s the fourth or fifth defenseman – if the players on the Wildcats team concentrate on finding the open player, the chances of Wilmington winning increase dramatically.
“We started to play more as a team as the season wore on and now we’re always trying to find the player who is open and we have been really starting to click (offensively),” he said. “I knew that if we played our game that we were going to be fine. We knew they were going to come out hard and be physical with us but we just had to do our thing.”
Now he hopes that trend can continue one last time, this Sunday when the team looks to defend its Division 2 state championship crown.
“It’s been our goal the whole season,” he said. “Last year we were surprised when we made it but this season it’s been our goal and we have been working hard at practice to get back there. We just have to keep our heads in the game. We can’t have distractions and we can’t let the fans get to us. We just have to play together as a team.”
And if indeed that happens, McDonough can again clinch his fists and look to the ‘Hockey Gods” in another memorable special moment.
