STONEHAM — Any time the neighboring towns meet in a rink, Tewksbury and Billerica are playing for something bigger than themselves.
With the pride of its town behind every stride, a Tewksbury-Billerica boys hockey matchup never fails to bring the intensity.
But the next time the storied rivals meet on the ice, the stakes will be that much higher. After No. 4 Tewksbury romped past No. 12 Malden Catholic, 5-2, in Div. 4 Elite 8 action on Thursday, the Redmen advanced to the Final Four for the third time in the last four seasons to secure a rematch with the top-seeded Indians.
The teams have been on a collision course all season, sitting atop the Div. 2 Power Rankings for the length of the winter. Billerica (21-1-1) downed Tewksbury, 5-2, in a January regular season contest.
“Very exciting,” Redmen head coach Derek Doherty said. “The boys are ready to go, and I’m sure Billerica’s ready to go. It should be a great match.”
Tewksbury (18-4-1) made no mistake in securing another shot at the Indians in front of a packed crowd at Stoneham Arena.
Jake Cunha scored two goals as Michael Macauda, Anthony DiFranco and Jason Lavoie rounded out the scoring. David Kalberg made 16 saves.
Holding a 14-3 edge in shots on goal in the first period, Tewksbury tallied a trio of goals to establish an early lead. After Cunha opened the scoring with a shot from the point, Macauda and DiFranco lit the lamp and increased the lead to 3-0.
“We knew if we could get a little bit of a lead that it would be tough for them to come back,” Doherty said. We wanted to jump on them right away.”
DiFranco’s blast from the bottom of the left circle came on a five-on-three, blistering a rebound top shelf with 1:09 left in the first.
“It means way more,” DiFranco said of a duel with Billerica. “More intensity, more everything. We just can’t wait to get back.”
Malden Catholic (5-17-1) hit the ice with a purpose to start the second, cutting into the deficit at the 11:31 mark as Michael Doe beat Kalberg while flying down the right side of the ice.
But Tewksbury responded to the push as Lavoie potted a power play tally with 3:41 to play in the second as the Redmen nursed a 4-1 advantage into the third stanza.
While the Redmen maintained a consistent offensive zone presence, Brody MacMaster found the back of the bet with 4:27 left in the third to attempt to ignite a comeback, but an effort with the goalie pulled proved to be unsuccessful when Cunha sent a shot the length of the ice into an empty net with 42 seconds left.