CHELMSFORD – The Messuri household will be happy one for days to come.

JP Messuri, the son of legendary head coach John Messuri, netted the game-winning goal in double overtime as No. 7 Arlington knocked off second-seeded St. John’s Prep 2-1 in double overtime Thursday night to advance to the Div. 1 state semifinals.

“The hockey gods were on our side tonight,” coach Messuri said. “JP is always crashing the net and the play we
drew up really worked.”

Arlington goaltender John Snider had 34 saves, seven coming in the first overtime in which the Eagles applied heavy pressure. In the second overtime where both teams skated three aside, Messuri got behind his defender and tucked in a missed Kurt Beck shot.

“This is the best hockey memory I’ve ever had,” Messuri said. “Taking down the defending champs as a
public school is really hard to do. I’m so proud of my teammates, especially John Snider.”

The first period resulted in a scoreless draw. Arlington had a slight edge in performance as they were able to out shoot the Eagles 11-7 in the opening frame. They had a few more high quality scoring chances but the Prep’s goalie senior AJ Farese had some nice saves on multiple odd man rushes to keep it scoreless.

Arlington seemed to the be more skilled team in the first, but St. John’s was the more physical of the two. St. John’s Prep came out of the locker room after the intermission like a team possessed to start the second period. In the first four minutes they registered five shots on goal and even a ringer off the post.

This was until Arlington intercepted a pass and junior wing Drew Beck nipped one right over the blocker of Farese to open up the game. Fellow junior Sean Patterson picked up the assist on a long range pass from just before the red line.

For long stretches in the third period Arlington dictated the pace of play. There were a lot of dumps and chases and long clears to waste time. St. John’s Prep pulled the goalie with 50 seconds to go and it paid off with 17 seconds left when senior captain center Mason Luciano sniped one from the left face off circle to tie the game.