St. Mary’s boys hockey ties Matignon

LYNN – The St. Mary’s hockey squad came into Saturday night’s contest with Catholic Conference foe Matignon having dropped its previous two games. Though the Spartans continued their winless ways, extending the streak to three, they still picked up a hard-fought point in a 2-2 deadlock with the Warriors at Connery Rink.”We’ve been struggling as of late, trying to score, but we’ve been in a real (scoring) funk, ” said Spartans coach Mark Lee. “We have guys playing hurt or sick, and the kids that can put the puck in the net are struggling, but I was happy with the good effort that we gave.”Both teams had their chances in a scoreless first period. Early on, Spartans forward Kyle Martin stole the puck in the Matignon zone, and shot low towards the right side. However, goalie Kyle Harring made the pad save.Moments later, teammate Andrew Bates skated into the Matignon end with the puck, and, as he was being forechecked, skated around the Warriors net, then back out. He lifted a backhander towards the goal, but Harring made the stop.Spartans goalie Donald Hesse was just as effective, squelching attempts by forwards Ricky Canales and Bryan Sullivan at point-blank range midway through the stanza. Late in the period, forward John Rufo picked up a loose puck near the St. Mary’s net and shot. Hesse gloved the puck to keep the game scoreless heading into the second stanza.That all changed just minutes into the middle period, as Warriors forward Steve Babineau netted the first of his two scores. He gathered a pass from Rufo, and fired a short wrist shot past the left of Hesse for a 1-0 Matignon edge.Yet St. Mary’s (6-5-1, 3-2-1) battled right back to even the score less than two minutes later. The Spartans attacked the Matignon zone, with winger Matt Molloy crashing the net with the puck. He beat Harring from the circle to tie the game at 1.The Spartans took the lead less than a minute later, courtesy of forward Corey Bartlett. Teammate Jon Baldwin’s initial shot was bounced off Harring, but the rebound slid over to Bartlett, whose shot trickled off Harring and into the Warriors net for a 2-1 Spartans edge.”I was proud at how we came right back to get the next two after Matignon scored the first goal,” Lee said. “There was no letdown, and we went right after them.”St. Mary’s had several chances to increase the lead, but Harring proved tough. He stonewalled forwards Andrew Bates and Tommy Braswell on back-to-back shots to keep Matignon to within one. With 43 seconds remaining in the period, he halted attempts by James Perkins and Jon Baldwin to keep the score at 2-1.”Kyle played a solid game for us, and did a good job,” said Matignon coach Angus Means, who saw his club go to 3-5-2 (1-3-1). “We had to rely on him more as the game progressed, as St. Mary’s has plenty of weapons. Once they get momentum, they’re tough to stop.”Both teams had their opportunities in the early moments of the third. Sullivan picked up a loose puck in the first minute, and fired towards the net, but was thwarted by Hesse. Moments later, Perkins’ 20-foot wrist shot was stopped by Harring, courtesy of a stick save.The Warriors tied up matters midway through the stanza, with Babineau doing the honors. Forward Zach Goroshko went around the Spartans net, and fired when he went back out. Hesse made the initial stop, but Babineau was there for the rebound, stuffing the puck into the open left hand side of the net to tie the score at 2.Both squads had several chances to regain the lead, but came up empty against the opposing goalies. Hesse held the fort against Sullivan, Paul MacIsaac, Canales and Mike Rufo through the middle of the period.St. Mary’s attacked the Matignon end in the final minutes, but Harring refused to yield, giving each team a point.”When you’re playing at this level (Division 1), you have to play hard,” Lee said. “We had a couple of lapses, but we worked hard, and the effort was very good.”