Jets frustrated by Somerville in finale

LYNN – It is always essential to maintain one’s composure in any venue, regardless of the competition. That is one point that no coach can ever stress enough.However, the Lynn Jets not only lost theirs midway through the final period in last night’s affair with Somerville, they also lost their 2-1 lead, and eventually the game. The Highlanders scored three goals (the first two on the power play) in the final three minutes to pin a 4-2 setback on Lynn at Connery Rink in the season finale.With almost nine minutes having been played in period number three, pushing and shoving took place in the Lynn end between members of both squads. One of the Lynn players threw a punch at a Somerville skater, and was tossed from the contest.The Jets were assessed both a four-minute major and a minor, forcing the squad to play at a disadvantage. The Highlanders stormed the net against goalie Turi Vitale, but the senior came up big with stops against defenseman John Wallace on a slap from the point.Yet Somerville (12-4-4) evened the game with just over three minutes remaining when forward Alexander Mello poked the puck out of a scrum in front of Vitale, and put it behind the goalie for a 2-2 tie.Lynn (7-10-3) would again find itself playing shorthanded just over a minute later, and it would only take the Highlanders seconds before they took the lead. Forward David Cooper took a pass from Messina in the Jets zone, and beat Vitale to the top corner.Vitale would be pulled for an extra skater within the final 30 seconds, yet Somerville’s Kevin McGuirk put the game away with an empty-net score with two seconds left.”We lost our composure in the last six minutes, especially with the (four-minute) major,” said Lynn co-coach Mike Deering. “The attitude at that time is key, from the players on the ice to those on the bench. It was a game that we still could have won, and a lot of our kids picked up the effort tonight. Somerville is a D2 team that plays in a D1 league, they’re going to the tourney, and we skated with them toe-to-toe until then.”The game started out well for the Jets, as they went on the power play in the early moments of the opening stanza. Thirty-one seconds later, center Liam Bransfield gave Lynn the lead when he got off a short wrist shot, slipping to the ice as he did so. The puck went through the legs of goalie Bill Weiland, giving Lynn a 1-0 edge.The Jets continued to attack the Highlanders end with intensity, and center Chris Surette increased the lead to 2-0 minutes later. He was stationed at the Somerville net, getting off three rapid-fire chances. Weiland held them all off, until the forward deposited his final volley behind the goalie for the score.Vitale continued to halt the Highlanders in the middle period. He blocked a 15-foot slapper from McGuirk in the early minutes, then stopped the rebound by Dwyer. Later in the stanza, he stonewalled Cooper at the net, as the winger camped himself to Vitale’s left and attempted to tip the puck into the goal.”We had four goalies, and we rotated them,” said Deering. “I don’t know how (head coach) Al (Melanson, who suffered a heart attack last week, with Deering and assistant Joe Conlon being named co-coaches in his absence) set his rotation, but last week, I told Turi that because he was a senior, we would go with him. He was just outstanding tonight.”One shot that Vitale couldn’t stop took place late in the period. Messina took a feed from Mello near center ice, and skated in all alone on Vitale. He deked Vitale out of position, forcing the goalie to come several feet out of the net. Messina moved more to his left, and fired the puck into the unguarded top right-hand corner to bring Somerville within 2-1.”All season long, this team faced adversity,” Deering said, alluding to the merger between English and Classical for hockey purposes. “The kids really stepped up offensively, and defensively blocking out opposing players. Our forwards backchecked well as the season went on, and they’ll t