Vecchione’s two goals help MC defeat Austin Prep

SAUGUS – With 10 players who are either freshmen or sophomores on his roster, Malden Catholic coach Chris Serino knew his team would need its senior leaders to come through this season.On Wednesday in the Division 1 finals of the Kasabuski Arena Holiday Hockey Classic, one of Saugus’ native sons filled that role perfectly.Senior Mike Vecchione scored twice and fellow senior David Deveney banked the game-winning goal off the stick of an Austin Prep defenseman to give the Lancers a 3-2 win in front of a packed house.”Austin is a very good team,” Serino said. “I thought that we played OK ? Our decision-making with the puck wasn’t the greatest but we worked hard.”The Lancers (4-0) dominated the play for stretches but were unable to finish off a boatload of quality scoring chances against Austin goalie Brendan Leahy.Unfortunately for the Cougars, MC took advantage of a couple of breakdowns in the defensive zone during the first period to take a 2-0 lead.Austin got a power play chance just over a minute into the game when Ryan Fitzgerald was called for interference. MC killed that man advantage off and then jumped in front moments later when Vecchione converted off a Connor Evangelista rebound at 3:38.A little under three minutes later, the Cougars drew even when Brendan Silk found a loose puck in the crease and slid it past Ryan DiMare.On the very next shift, Austin suffered its second defensive breakdown, allowing Vecchione to come free in front of the net for a one-timer past Leahy 21 seconds after Silk’s goal.”We blew a couple of assignments early and you can’t do that against a team like them,” Cougars coach Lou Finocchiaro said. “But I like how we responded as a team following them.”Later in the first, AP had a :40 5-on-3 advantage but failed to convert as the Lancers took the lead into the first intermission.”Our strength is also our weakness at times,” Serino said. “We are skilled with the puck but then we try to create things when there’s nothing there.”Despite having a 12-3 shots on goal advantage in the second, MC saw its lead evaporate when Tim Benedetto tied the game at 3:54 of the second, assisted by Saugus’ Ryley MacEachern and Ryan Quinn.In the third, the Cougars had a pair of power play chances in the opening five minutes but couldn’t convert. The missed opportunities proved costly when Deveney banked home his centering pass with 5:05 to go to provide MC with the winning margin.”We had every opportunity to win the hockey game,” Finocchiaro said. “Obviously you’re never happy with a loss but there’s a lot of good things we can take out of this game.”In the consolation game earlier in the day, Mike Restuccia scored twice as St. Mary’s defeated Wakefield, 5-3.It was a rematch of a Division 1 North semifinal from a year ago, when the Warriors sent St. Mary’s packing with a 9-5 win.Things started slow for the Spartans as Adam Giancola and Nick Haley gave Wakefield a 2-0 lead early. But Eric Rosengren turned the momentum in St. Mary’s favor late in the first when he cut the gap to 2-1.Doyle Somerby notched a power play goal early in the second to tie the game at 2-2. Restuccia then added goals 2:54 apart midway through the period to give St. Mary’s a 4-2 lead.Wakefield cut the lead to 4-3 late in the second before Julian Yourawski scored the only goal of the third, assisted by Bobby Mullins and Brendan Mageary, for St. Mary’s with 4:28 to go.