Hockey Roundup: Malden Catholic rolls past Prep, 7-4

Malden Catholic shook off the mid-season doldrums and defeated St. John’s Prep for the second time in two weeks, 7-4, Saturday at the Valley Forum in Malden. After an explosive start to their season, the Lancers had lost to Hingham and tied B.C. High in their two previous outings.After Colin Blackwell gave St. John’s a 2-1 lead at 6:09 of the second period, MC’s offense erupted for four goals in a span of 3:25 for a 5-2 advantage. Mike Vecchione (two goals, two assists) and Mike Iovanna (two goals) kicked off the blitz with goals five seconds apart, followed in short order by Vecchione’s second (on the power play) and another by Brendan Collier.Blackwell gave the Prep hope completing a hat trick with goals at 12:52 and 13:20 of the second, the latter on the power play. However, Iovanna and Ryan Fitzgerald connected for their second goals two minutes apart early in the third period to seal it for MC (3-0-1, 8-2-1).The Lancers’ top line of Vecchione, Fitzgerald and Collier racked up another double-digit night with 11 points. Freshman Shane Eiserman had two assists and junior Sam Kurker had a goal and assist for St. John’s, now 0-3-1 in Catholic Conference play (5-4-1 overall).Bp. Fenwick 0, Archbishop Williams 0The Crusaders’ (7-2-2) trek to Braintree produced a point against their Catholic Central Large foe. Fenwick held a 23-16 edge in shots and Brad Rocheville notched his fifth shutout of the season. Defensemen P.J. Usalis, Jake Brennan and Will Clancy excelled while forwards Bret Kidik and Joe Shea were keys to containing the Bishops’ flashy Mike Boyle, limiting him to a single shot.”I thought we completely outplayed them. It was a physical, top quality high school game. I’m really proud of our guys – this was a very important game for our program,” said coach Dan Lynch.Saugus 2, Medford 1In Medford, Ralph Pagliuca scored the game-winner at 4:50 of the second period for the Sachems (5-1-4). Guy Capillo staked Saugus to a 1-0 lead in the first period while Saige Tait had two assists. Nick Hegarty finished with 11 saves for the Sachems, who amassed a 30-12 edge in shots.”It was a tight game and this time we found a way to hold on in the third period. We were able to bear down and hold the lead, which is a good sign for us,” said coach Jeff Natalucci.Lynnfield 4, Pentucket 0The Pioneers (6-3-3 overall), unbeaten in their last six games (3-0-3), turned in another solid showing at Veterans Memorial Rink in Haverhill. Matt Kelley’s short-handed goal just four minutes into the game proved to be the game-winner. Dylan Costa scored twice, John Festa added two assists and Greg Meinenger contributed a goal in support of goalies Kurt Cataldo and Matt DeLuccia, who combined for 17 saves.”We’re young and we’re improving. Hopefully we can become a team to be reckoned with later in the season,” said coach Vin Mirasolo.Winthrop 3, Swampscott 2At Salem State, Chris Rand’s goal at 3:35 of the third period extended the Vikings’ unbeaten streak to nine games, a stretch during which they are 7-0-2. Winthrop’s Nick Clewer, from Joe Scarfo at 7:30, and Swampscott’s Gino Cresta, unassisted at 12:19, matched first-period goals. The Vikings are now 4-2-2 in the NEC North (7-2-3 overall) while the Big Blue dipped to 0-7-0 in the NEC South (4-7-0 overall).Marblehead 3, Gloucester 0At O’Maley Rink, Chris McLeod popped in a pair of goals early in the third period to seal the deal for Marblehead, which outshot the hosts by a 38-19 count and improved to 7-3-2 overall. Austin Haley’s strike at 7:23 of the first period, set up by Jake Kulevich, was all the support goalie Tony Cuzner needed in posting a 19-save shutout. McLeod created breathing room with a power play strike at 1:14 of the third period and made it 3-0 with his second goal with 10 minutes to play.Danvers 7, Lynn 2At Connery, the Falcons (5-2-2) rode a career night by senior Jack McCarthy (four goals) past the Jets. Joe Strangie had a goal and three assists while Brian O’Keefe added a goal as Dan