ARLINGTON — Cam Fici has no problem drawing extra attention on the ice for the Belmont boys’ hockey team.
Coming off a 36-goal campaign and more than halfway to that total already this season, Fici often hears “get on (No.) 4″ from opposing coaches, a reference to his sweater number.
“That creates a lot of opportunities for my teammates,” Fici said of drawing attention.
His abilities as a facilitator were the deciding factor Sunday, as Fici’s connection with defenseman Peter Grace on an odd-man rush in the second period led to the winning strike in a 2-0 win for the fifth-ranked Marauders over No. 8 Marshfield in the opening round of Doherty Division play in the Ed Burns Coffee Pot Tournament.
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Fici added an empty netter with 12 seconds remaining in regulation for Belmont (10-1-2), knocking Marshfield (11-2-2) out of the running for a repeat title in the Burns tournament. The empty netter was Fici’s 20th goal of the season.
“Obviously, Marshfield was keying on [Fici],” Belmont coach Tim Foley said. “He’s smart enough to know that if you put players around him, he draws them over and he can dish the puck off as well as shoot.”
Greg Federico recorded 16 saves for a shutout for the Marauders, who eliminated Marshfield from the Division 1 state tournament last winter. Brady Quackenbush made 17 stops for the Rams.
In the top-tier Doherty Division, Belmont will be joined by Arlington, Hingham, and Reading in the second weekend of the three-week Burns Tournament, which spotlights 16 of the top public school programs. Sixth-ranked Reading beat No. 10 Wellesley, 4-1, in the last game of the night.
In the top-tier Doherty Division, Belmont will face Arlington and Hingham will play Reading in the second weekend of the three-week tournament.
Arlington, 3, Braintree 2 — Drew Fecteau put the finishing touches on a comeback from two goals down in the third period with a power-play winner 56 seconds into overtime for the fourth-ranked Spy Ponders (10-2-2) over the 17th-ranked Wamps (6-4-1).
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“For me, loving high school hockey like I do, this is like Field of Dreams,” Arlington coach John Messuri said. “Seeing all the public schools coming into this rink here, it’s awesome. What a great day of high school hockey.”
Liam Gore and Stephanos Sotiropoulos scored in the third period for the Spy Ponders after Andrew Gaffney and Anthony Cappello scored in the second for Braintree.
Hingham 3, Canton 1 — Connor Lasch, Joe Hennessey, and Brady Gannon (first career goal) scored in the first period as the third-ranked Harbormen (8-1-4) outlasted the 16th-ranked Bulldogs (11-3) in the first round.
Reading 4, Wellesley 1 — Ben Wright, Cam Fahey, Robbie Granara, and Maxx Owens scored for the fifth-ranked Rockets (8-2-1) against No. 10 Wellesley (11-2).
Tewksbury 3, Burlington 1 — Senior Conor Cremin scored a pair of goals and junior Matthew Cooke added the go-ahead tally for the 13th-ranked Redmen (11-1-1) in a first-round Brinn Division matchup. Senior Ben O’Keefe made 26 saves for the win at William Chase Arena in Natick.