Boys Hockey: St. Mary’s gets win over Matignon

It’s been a season of ups and downs for the St. Mary’s hockey team ? but on Saturday at Stoneham Arena, the Spartans took a big step in their maturation process.James Perkins scored twice and Donald Hesse stopped all 14 shots he faced as the Spartans clinched (at least theoretically) a state tournament berth and second place in the Catholic Central League/Large with a 6-0 win over Matignon.”We finished second place in this league last season and to come back and finished second this season, we’re psyched about that,” St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee said. “We accomplished a big part of what we set out to do four years ago (Saturday).”St. Mary’s (10-7-0, 7-3-0) will now await the outcome of an appeal of its tournament exclusion following its postgame brawl with Arlington Catholic in January to see if it will participate in the Division 1 North sectional.”We’ve qualified, now the rest will be up to the MIAA at the end of the season,” Lee said.The Spartans assumed control of the game early and never let the hosts get going. Perkins and Bobby Mullins scored three minutes apart in the first to stake St. Mary’s to a 2-0 lead.In the second, Perkins struck again off a Brendan Mageary (2 assists) feed for a 3-0 lead. Later in the middle period, Mike Restuccia upped the lead to 4-0. They were followed by third-period goals from Bryan Wilkins and Eric Rosengren.”We’ve looked at this team as a two-year project because everyone but three players are back next season,” Lee said. “But we’re ahead of schedule and that really comes down to the great attitude this team has.”Swampscott 6, Salem 5At Rockett Arena in Salem, the Big Blue (8-8-1) got a much needed win but the game was marred by another postgame fracas. A near brawl erupted as time ran out, resulting in Swampscott’s Colby Wollerscheid being given a two-game suspension for fighting.”Things just got out of control at the end,” Swampscott coach Gino Faia said. “It was a sloppy game but we had some leaders step up and take care of business at the end for us.”Swampscott trailed 4-2 entering the third period but exploded as Justin Massey and Wollerscheid each scored twice in a seven-minute span to erase the deficit.Massey finished with a hat trick and an assist while Wollerscheid had two goals and an assist. Anthony DiPietro had a goal and an assist with Chris Carman adding two assists.Saugus 0, Marblehead 0At Rockett Arena in Salem, the Sachems (4-9-2) gave the newly crowned NEC South champs all they could handle but neither team could dent the scoreboard.”We had some chances and just couldn’t convert,” Saugus coach Chris Connors said.Saugus needs to win its last five games to qualify for the postseason following the tie. For the Headers (13-2-3), it was Tony Cuzner stopping all 15 shots he faced while Saugus’ Nick Hegarty turned aside all 20 Marblehead shots.St. John’s 1, Xaverian 0At Foxborough, the Eagles (8-7-1, 4-3-1 Catholic Conference) clinched second place in the Catholic Conference thanks to a season sweep of the Hawks.Greg Tremblay’s second-period goal, assisted by Sam Kurker and Colin Blackwell, was all the offense the Prep needed as David LeTarte stopped all 15 shots he faced.”This was a great bounce back after a tough game (a 7-2 loss to Malden Catholic) on Thursday,” Prep coach Kristian Hanson said. “I couldn’t be happier with the effort the kids had (Sunday).”Danvers 2, Winthrop 2At Larsen Arena in Winthrop, the Falcons (8-4-3, 6-3-3 NEC North) stormed back from a 2-0 third-period deficit to push within a single point of reaching the state tournament.Winthrop (13-1-3, 9-1-3) had taken a 2-0 lead in the first on goals from Joe Casey and Brendan Loomis. Neither team scored in the second before Kyle Larson got Danvers on the board midway through the third.Then, with time running out and an extra attacker on, Tom Conway converted off assists from Larson and D.J. Yost to tie the game.Fenwick 3, Trinity Catholic 1At McVann-O’Keefe Rink in Peabody, Fenwick (10-7-0) clinched the Catholic