Lynnfield outguns Saugus to meet Danvers in Kasabuski D2 finals

SAUGUS – Two perennial tournament teams locked horns once again in the Division 2 semifinals of the Kasabuski Arena Holiday Hockey Classic on Tuesday.Lynnfield and Saugus have staged their share of battles in recent years and Tuesday’s 6-4 win by the Pioneers was one of the more entertaining in the rivalry between the two.The Sachems had to play without five starters – including starting goalie Nick Hagerty – who were suspended for two weeks because of a violation of a school rule, but gave the Pioneers everything they could want and then some.”I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” Saugus coach Chris Connors said. “Obviously with all the distractions they’ve had in the last 72 hours, to come out and play like that shows what kind of character they have.”Lynnfield, meanwhile, got its best offensive output of the season as Greg Meiniger scored twice and Matt Kelly broke a 4-4 tie early in the third period to get the Pioneers into tonight’s (6) final against Danvers. Saugus will play Boston Latin at 2 in the consolation game.”Saugus worked extremely hard and they are very well coached,” Lynnfield coach Vin Mirasolo said. “We need to continue to improve our young team, but it’s good to be back in the finals here again.”It didn’t take long for the scoring to get started as Shane McRae scored off a faceoff 1:54 into the first to stake Lynnfield (2-2-0) to a 1-0 lead. That lead, though, lasted all of 24 seconds as Ralph Paglucca beat Craig Cataldo with a wrist shot from the slot to tie the game at 1-1.Just over three minutes later, defenseman Steve Spinney’s shot from the blue line bounced off Cataldo’s stick and went in to give Saugus a 2-1 lead. Two minutes after that, Meiniger got the first of his two goals when he tipped Pete Nutile’s shot home on a power play to tie things at 2-2.Dylan Costa sent Lynnfield to the first intermission with the lead when he picked up a Nutile blocked shot and fired a laser beam over David Aiken’s shoulder to make it 3-2 despite Saugus having an 11-6 shots on goal advantage.”When the chips were down, this group came together as a team,” Connors said. “The game plan was to use a forecheck to keep them pinned down and for the most part we were able to do that.”It stayed 3-2 until the craziness returned in the final minutes of the second. Meiniger got his second goal of the game with 4:22 left when his wrister snuck inside the right post to make it 4-2, Lynnfield.The Sachems rallied back in the final 40 seconds of the period. First, Paglucca converted off a 2-on-1 with Mike Greene to cut the lead to a goal. Seven seconds later, Kurt Rodrigues followed up a Drew Oxley shot and beat Cataldo to tie the game at 4-4 after two.Kelly put Lynnfield ahead for good at 5:44 of the third when he took a long Costa pass down the left wing and beat Aiken with a wrist shot from the left circle. Andy Garbeno capped the scoring at 12:24, assisted by Tyler Smith.The other D2 semi was just as wacky as Danvers rallied from a 2-1 deficit with three goals in the final 5:38 to take a 4-2 win over Boston Latin.”It was great to see how the kids responded,” Danvers coach Kevin Flynn said. “Their effort was good the entire game and it was great to see them rewarded for that.”Kyle Larson gave Danvers an early 1-0 lead when he was set up by Brian O’Keefe at 6:52. The Wolfpack tied the game late in the first on Mike O’Connell’s unassisted goal and took a 2-1 lead late in the second on a Mike Urso tally.Danvers drew even on the power play at 9:38 of the third when freshman Joe Strangie converted on the doorstep off an O’Keefe pass. Larson put the Falcons ahead for good with 3:22 left when he scored off a Chris Milne face-off win and then completed his hat trick with an unassisted empty netter at 14:50.