Pioneers sail their way past Newburyport

PEABODY – For the Lynnfield hockey team, Saturday afternoon’s game at McVann-O’Keefe Rink against Division 2 North power Newburyport was a chance for the Pioneers to see where they stood as they headed into a challenging portion of their schedule.Well, coach Vin Mirasolo had to like what he saw.The Pioneers jumped all over the Clippers in the first period, taking a 3-0 lead in the first 11:18 and then using a rock-solid defense and fantastic goaltending from Craig Cataldo to upset one of the Cape Ann League’s heavy hitters, 4-2.”It’s certainly nice to beat a Newburyport team that’s at the top of our league,” Mirasolo said. “Craig really stepped up when he had to.”After his team played with emotion and fire in a 3-1 win over Gloucester on Tuesday, Clippers coach Paul Yameen couldn’t find an answer for why Newburyport came out and played a sluggish first period.”That first period was one of the worst I’ve ever been around,” Yameen said. “And it was all around, from the goaltender out. That kills you against a team that comes to play every day like Lynnfield.”The Pioneers (3-1-0) put the clamps on Newburyport from the opening face-off of the first period, something that Yameen knew was coming.”We knew coming in that we would get trapped, and we practiced it,” Yameen said. “But you never would have known it in the first period.”Lynnfield’s strong defense wound up turning the Pioneer offense loose as Pete Nutile’s wraparound clear from the Lynnfield zone resulted in a 2-on-1 for Matt Kelly and John Lee. Kelly made a perfect pass and Lee beat Newburyport (2-1-1) goalie Anthony Federico at 3:11 to give Lynnfield a 1-0 lead.Seemingly rattled, the Clippers then found themselves shorthanded when Collin Cusack was called for interference at 5:40. But Newburyport’s strong penalty kill did the job, keeping it a 1-0 game.But less than a minute after the power play, Lynnfield’s third line came through and increased the lead to 2-0. Rocco Schelzi, a backup goalie a season ago, charged down the left wing and threw a centering pass to the slot, where Jon Arakelian one-timed a shot past Federico from the top of the crease.Things didn’t get much better for the Clippers following Arakelian’s goal as Derek Freeman was called for boarding at 9:51. And given the opportunity, Lynnfield took it with open arms.Cam Higgins’ initial bid was blocked, but Andy Garbeno scooped up the rebound and fired a quick wrist shot that snuck inside the left post to give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead with 3:42 left in the first.”Certainly, we were happy to jump out to a lead like that,” Mirasolo said.Newburyport gained a little bit of a foothold late in the period when, on a power play, Freeman crashed the net and banged home the rebound of Bill Boudreau’s blast from the left point with 2:34 left on the clock.Freeman’s goal gave the Clippers momentum, and they carried it into the second period, where Cataldo became the story. Newburyport drilled the Lynnfield netminder with 15 shots, but none of them found the mark.Twice late in the period, Cataldo took away sure goals when he came up with spectacular stops on Kevin Holmes and Corey Ruane.”We’ve been averaging 35 shots a game and just are not putting the puck in the net,” Yameen said.Cataldo’s play in his net actually allowed Lynnfield to reestablish its three-goal lead when freshman Dylan Costa took an Eric Chiuve pass on a power play and beat both defenseman Boudreau and backup goalie Chris Eiserman with a wrist shot under the crossbar to make it 4-1 after two.Newburyport continued applying the pressure in the third period, outshooting the Pioneers 15-1, but once again ran into Cataldo’s brick wall.Despite having three early power plays, the Clippers couldn’t turn on the red light. It wasn’t for lack of effort, though, as Cusack came away empty twice on the same shift thanks to sprawling stops by Cataldo.Newburyport would score with 4:38 to go when Sean Dillon’s power-play drive found its way through traffic and past Catald