LOWELL -- The Middies made their own luck Monday evening.
The sixth-seeded Dracut/Tyngsboro hockey team threw pucks at the net every chance it had during its Div. 3 round of 16 contest against No. 11 Nashoba Regional at the Tsongas Center and the strategy of tossing rubber en masse toward the goal paid off.
The Middies (19-1-2) peppered Nashoba with shots from everywhere on the ice and emerged with a 6-1 victory, advancing to the tournament quarterfinals. Dracut/Tyngsboro will face No. 3 Medfield on Wednesday night in Watertown with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
Nashoba's season ends with a 14-6-2 mark.
"I think the first seven minutes, we weren't shooting, so that became the message. Let's shoot the puck, let's get to the net and be a pain," Dracut head coach Jeff DuRoss said. "I think we picked it up after the first few minutes and started making (Nashoba) work."
Charlie Wilkie potted a pair of goals and added two helpers, while Brendan Modeski added a goal and three assists. Chad Vigeant added three helpers of his own as the Middies rolled.
Dracut put the game away early in the third, scoring twice in the first 77 seconds of the frame. But it was a goal late in the second that truly took the wind out of Nashoba's sails and put the Middies well in control.
After Nashoba had struck for a goal from a sharp angle off the stick of Cam Rouillard, the Wolves appeared to have seized the momentum, sending several high-quality shots at Grayson Blakley (27 saves).
But with under 10 seconds left in the middle period, Dracut's final rush resulted in a back-breaking goal. Modeski threw a wrister from outside the left circle on net and though Nashoba netminder Tyler Olsen had a read on the puck, it slipped out of his glove and found the net for a two-goal cushion.
"That kind of swung things. We skate here every day and know it's a hard rink to play in," DuRoss said. "Our message is always to make things hard for the other team and wear them down."
Olsen finished the contest with 35 saves.
The Middies struck first, wasting little time on the game's first infraction. After Nashoba was whistled for a penalty, the puck found its way to Nate Purtell at the point off the ensuing faceoff and the freshman blueliner’s shot from the left point found its way through traffic and into the net 6:20 into the contest.
Modeski and Vigeant earned assists on the marker.
What proved to be the game-winner came five minutes into the second. Sebastian Castagno’s rocket of a wrist shot beat Olsen high to his blocker side for a 2-0 edge.
Nashoba struck for its lone goal five minutes later. After some strong cycling in the offensive zone, the puck found Cam Rouillard, who threw a shot from a sharp angle at Blakley. The puck somehow found its way through the netminder and into the goal, cutting the lead in half.
Nate Carter and Christian Matranga were credited with assists on the Wolves’ goal.
After Modeski gave the Middies a two-goal edge, the floodgates opened in the third with two goals in a minute and 17 seconds.
Jake Vigeant dove to put home a rebound just 40 seconds into the final stanza and Wilkie wasted no time on a power play for the Middies, scoring just 15 seconds into a power play on a nifty move to get by a defender before finding the net.
Wilkie capped the scoring with 9:29 remaining, shoveling a backhand shot past Olsen from in close.
In all, eight Middies earned at least a point on the night, with Josef Salvo and Andrew Baia also notching assists.