Pedicini’s goal helps Lynnfield boys hockey tie Andover

READING – Last season, Lynnfield made a Cinderella run through the Division 2 North tournament, reaching the finals, where the Pioneers were beaten by Andover, 7-1, at the Chelmsford Forum.On Monday at Burbank Arena, the teams got together again and played one of the better non-league games of the season.The Pioneers trailed twice, but were able to tie the game each time (the second occasion on Rob Pedicini’s tally) in a spirited 2-2 draw.”To come back from 1-0 and 2-1 down against a very good and well-coached team, it speaks well for us moving forward,” Lynnfield coach Vin Mirasolo said. “Playing a team like Andover gets you ready for the tournament, and we showed a lot of character in coming back twice.”Unfortunately for the fans in attendance, this was a one-time-only show as the Warriors are in the middle of their first season in Division 1. But Andover coach Mario Martiniello was impressed with what he saw from Lynnfield.”They are going to do very well in the Division 2 playoffs,” Martiniello said. “They gave us everything that we could handle and they could play with a lot of Division 1 teams like we are. They stayed right with us all game long.”The Pioneers (7-2-4) extended their unbeaten streak to nine games with the tie, having now gone 5-0-4 in that stretch. But they could have come away with two points in this one if not for, literally, a bad break in the third period.With the Pioneers on a power play early in the final frame after Andover’s Kevin Hitchko was called for interference, John Connolly had a wide-open net to shoot at on a rebound. But just as he went to pull the trigger, his stick shattered in half and Warrior goalie Nick Drew was able to fall on the puck.”We always feel like we want to compete with the best local teams, and we have great respect for Andover,” Mirasolo said. “It’s a good measuring stick for us.”Andover (8-2-2) couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game as Cam Smith picked off a Lynnfield pass and fed George Flanagan, who deked Craig Cataldo and slid the puck into an open net just 26 seconds into the game.That goal was the start of a period where the Warriors had plenty of pressure on Lynnfield, but only had six shots to show for their control of the play. The Pioneers actually would outshoot them in the period, 7-6, but kept the game 1-0 into the intermission.”We jumped out early and that is definitely the way you want to get started against a team like that,” Martiniello said. “We controlled the play, but we just didn’t get a lot of shots on net.”The second period began to turn the play towards the Warrior end of the ice, but Drew and Company dodged several bullets early in the second. Andover then looked to attack when Sam Oliveri was called for roughing at 5:20.But it was the Pioneers who went on the offensive. Aggressive forechecking at the blue line from John Connolly resulted in Joe Kuta turning the puck over for a breakaway.Drew made a spectacular right-pad save on Connolly’s bid, but Ryan Smith trailed the play and fired the rebound into an open net for his 12th goal of the season to tie the game.”John had his best game of the year, and with Ryan, the book is out on him, but he is still a catalyst for us,” Mirasolo said.The end-to-end action continued, with the Pioneers failing to convert on several chances from in close against Drew. Late in the second, the Warriors went back on the power play, and this time they didn’t make a mistake.Finishing off a beautiful passing play from John Hyslip, Smith roofed a wrist shot from just inside the right circle with 1:55 left to give Andover back the lead.But the Pioneers showed no quit and got back even with 14.7 seconds remaining. Connolly fed Smith in neutral ice for a 2-on-2 break with Pedicini. Smith fired and was stopped by Drew, but Pedicini’s rebound shot somehow found its way between Drew’s legs to tie the game heading to the third.”We told our guys about that before the shift started,” Martiniello said. “And what makes it