The Ryan Mone and Eric MacLean Memorial Youth Hockey Tournaments produced well-played hockey and memorable moments of fellowship, community, and good sportsmanship at the Martha’s Vineyard Ice Arena last weekend.
All three Island youth hockey teams advanced to Sunday’s final round of the three-day Ryan Mone (Squirts) and Eric MacLean (PeeWees) tournaments, but only the MV Squirts White team emerged with a victory, 1-0 over the South Shore Conquistadors, in the consolation game in the championship round.
The White team got a second-period goal from Matt Pouliot, and made it stand up behind 18 saves by goalie Jacob Sylvia to win the consolation game trophy.
MYV Squirts Purple team lost to a near technically-perfect Nantucket Nor’easters squad by a 6-1 tally in the tournament championship game. Nantucket scored three first-period goals, and added two goals in the second and one goal in the third to seal the deal. The Nor’easters allowed only two goals against them in the entire tournament, one by Charlie Lakis for the Purple in the second period in the championship game, to cut the deficit to 4-1 at the time.
The MV Mariners Team lost the Peewee Eric MacLean Memorial Tournament championship game by a 5-0 count to the South Shore Seahawks, who exploded for four second-period goals to snap a scoreless tie.
The North Shore Icehawks topped the Milton Snipers 7-5 in the Peewee consolation round.
The Ryan Mone and Eric Maclean tournaments are normally played on separate weekends, but were combined last weekend after the Squirts tournament was canceled by snow last month.
The Martha’s Vineyard Ice Arena was a busy place from Friday night through Sunday afternoon, as eight teams played 16 games to determine the winners. The tournament also produced a host of stories related to community and sportsmanship.
Certainly the presence of Tricia Bergeron, now of Edgartown and formerly of Oak Bluffs, throughout the tournament’s frigid conditions was one of those stories. Ms. Bergeron is the mother of Eric MacLean, an 18-year-old Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School hockey player who died in a March 2001 auto accident.
Ms. Bergeron did double duty, presenting team trophies to both the Peewee teams and to the Squirt teams competing in the Ryan Mone Memorial tourney, named for the son of Island residents Gayle and Bob Mone. Ryan Mone also died in an auto accident, on Jan. 1, 1998.
“Gayle and Bob always present the trophies, but they are traveling this weekend and asked me to fill in,” Ms. Bergeron said on Saturday. “I’m glad to do it, and to deliver the message that seat belts save lives. Neither of our sons were wearing seat belts when their accidents happened,” she said.
“If this tournament and that message reaches even one kid, it’s all worth it,” she said. Ms. Bergeron delivered her message loud and clear during the trophy presentations on Sunday.
A tournament Good Sport award would probably have gone to Riley Silvia, a Squirts White team goaltender who volunteered to play for the South Shore Conquistadors throughout the tournament. The Conquistadors’ lone goaltender broke an arm several days before the tournament.
Riley played well against all comers, including his own team, and was embraced by his new teammates and included in the Conquistadors’ Saturday-night dinner at Sharky’s Restaurant. While Riley’s play produced some conflicted moments for Island fans (“Boy, it’s hard to root for both teams at the same time,” laughed one fan), a cheery statement by a departing South Shore parent on Sunday summed it up. “Thanks, Riley! Without you, there would have been no tournament for us, buddy,” he said.
Both the boys and girls MVRHS hockey programs will benefit from the talent on display last weekend. They’ll have to wait awhile — these kids are only 10 to 13 years old — but their play, exemplified by the goaltending skills of MV Squirt White Jacob Sylvia, was often otherworldly. Jacob made more than 70 saves last weekend, including 36 against mighty Nantucket, to help propel the Squirts White team into the consolation game.