St. Mary’s comes all the way back to win to win Saugus ice tourney

SAUGUS – The Lynnfield and St. Mary’s hockey teams have had some pretty memorable battles in recent years during the Division 2 North tournament. But the two had not put on a performance like they did at Kasabuski Arena Friday in the Division 2 finals of the Saugus Federal Credit Union Holiday Hockey Classic.For two periods, the Pioneers put on an offensive clinic and held a 4-1 lead thanks to Ryan Smith’s hat trick. But the Spartans staged one of the best rallies in recent memory in North Shore hockey, scoring five goals on seven shots in the third period to force overtime and then winning the game at 2:11 of the extra session on John Baldwin’s second goal of the game for a 7-6 win.”This is a great win for this team and this program,” St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee said. “To come back from that deficit against a top notch program in Lynnfield, I am so proud of my guys.”The dramatic finish seemed like a pipe dream after John Connolly (2 goals, 1 assist) had given the Pioneers a 4-1 lead thanks to a power play goal with 46.1 seconds left in the second period.During the intermission, Lee’s message to his team was pretty succinct.”We told them that they had two choices. Either to pack it in or come out and make a game of it,” Lee said. “And they took it upon themselves to work their butts off in the third period.”Zak Borowski gave the Spartans (4-1-1) a ray of hope 73 seconds into the third when John Baldwin’s shot from the left circle deflected off his skate and past Craig Cataldo to cut the gap to 4-2.That momentum boost lasted all of 3:33 until John Lee found a loose puck at the side of the net to hand the Pioneers (3-2-1) back a three goal margin and begin a wild final 10 minutes.On the next shift, the Spartans got that one back as third liner Jesse Powers got his first goal of the season on a scramble in front of Cataldo’s net to make it 5-3.The margin closed even more 22 seconds later when freshman James Perkins pilfered a pass in the Lynnfield zone and snapped a quick shot inside the left post to make it 5-4 with 9:25 remaining.”Our defensive zone coverage was fantastic for two periods,” Lynnfield coach Vin Mirasolo said. “But St. Mary’s is very skilled.”It was still 5-4 with five minutes left when the Pioneers went on the power play after Shaun Velez was called for tripping. It took just over a minute before Connolly got his second of the game, assisted by Smith (hat trick, 2 assists) and Alex Young, to make it 6-4 and seemingly put St. Mary’s down for the count.”They have three lines of good players and one exceptional line,” Lee said. “But the kids didn’t pack it in after they made it 6-4.”Corey Bartlett made things interesting with 2:07 remaining when he roofed a Tommy Adams rebound to make it 6-5. The pressure from St. Mary’s continued, forcing a face-off in the Lynnfield zone with a minute remaining.Lee gambled and pulled goaltender Dan Yetman for an extra skater. The move turned out to be a good one as Corey Lee’s one-timer from the slot off a Borowski centering pass tied the game with 52.9 seconds remaining.IN overtime, Borowski was again in the middle of the fray as the Gloucester native scooped up a puck behind the net and fed Baldwin in front for the game-winner.”We went a long way towards putting a stamp on this year (Friday),” Lee said.UIN the consolation game, Saugus survived an early Boston Latin goal to break a two game losing streak with a 5-3 win.Ryan McManus had a pair of first period goals to offset the early strike by the Wolfpack. Matt Fraser (goal, assist) also scored in the first as Saugus led 3-2 after one.After a scoreless second, Steve Strangie and Joe Vecchione (goal, two assists) scored in the third to put the game away. Defenseman Justin Chiulli had three assists while Mike Scuzzarella had a pair of helpers.Malden Catholic won the Division 1 championship with a 3-0 win over Westford Academy.