Hockey: Saugus whitewashes Beverly

In a late season matchup with the top of the Northeastern Conference-North up for grabs, Saugus came through with a huge win over Beverly, 4-0. Saugus (7-1-4) jumped out to an early lead in the first period when Saige Tait scored on a feed from Ralph Paglucca. Minutes into the second period Paglucca and Kurt Rodrigues teamed up to help Drew Oxley score. Later in the period Guy Capillo scored, with an assist from Tait.As a sign of Saugus keeping their foot on the gas, Tait’s second score on the night came at 1:58, with Mike Kotowski and Paglucca helping the score.”This was a big win for us tonight,” said Saugus coach Jeff Natalucci.In the win for Saugus, goalie Nick Hegarty made 25 saves to earn the shutout. The Panthers drop to 10-3-2 with the lossSt. Mary’s 4, Matignon 1At Connery Rink, the Spartans (9-1-3 overall, 6-0-3 Catholic Central League/Large) didn’t bring their “A” game, but still got the job done against a team they defeated 7-1 the first time around..”It wasn’t our best effort of the year,” coach Mark Lee said.The Spartans led 3-0 heading into the third period thanks to two goals by Bobby Mullins and one by Cam Kennedy. Matignon got one back, but Bucky Surette scored with 29 seconds remaining to ice the win. Donald Hess, who has only given up two goals in the last six games, was in net for the win.Peabody 6, Revere 2At Cronin Rink in Revere, the Tanners (8-1-2, 7-0-2 NEC North) took over first place in the NEC as they rallied from a 2-0 deficit with six unanswered goals.Rob Houghton and Mike Chiappini each scored twice and had an assists to pace the Peabody attack. Connor Purcell had a goal and an assist whuile defenseman Ryan Noftle had three assists.”It wasn’t a great start at all for us but their second goal really sparked us and we took over the game,” Peabody coach Mark Leonard said.Swampscott 3, Rockport 3At Salem State, Rockport was able to capitalize on a 5-on-3 powerplay to knot the score at three at 7:36 of the third period. The disappointing score ruined a strong third period by the Big Blue. For Swampscott (4-8-1) Sean Lannon scored in the first period with Gino Cresta assisting. In the second period, Chris Finley scored on an unassisted play and then Cresta scored ona feed from Matt Videtta in the third. Cresta’s score had given Swampscott a 3-2 advantage prior to the difficult and unsuccessful penalty kill.St. John’s 4, BC High 1At the Clark Center at UMass-Boston, the Prep (6-4-1, 2-3 Catholic Conference) rebounded from two back to back tough losses with a win in a game that coach Kristian Hanson called “a must win.””The kids rose to the occasion,” Hanson said. “The kids knew the importance of this game and they prepared hard for it.”Colin Blackwell had two goals and an assist to push his North Shore leading total to 33 points while Shane Eiserman had a goal and two assists. Andrew Pierce added two helpers.Danvers 4, Marblehead 3At Rockett Arena in Salem, the Falcons (6-2-2) fought back from a 3-1 second period deficit as Rob Buchanan scored twice, including the game-winner early in the third.Hunter Graves, Tyler Bates and Ryan Dempsey had the Header (7-4-2) goals.Jack McCarthy had a goal and an assist for Danvers.GIRLS HOCKEYMarblehead 10, Peabody 0At McVann-O’Keefe Rink, Keelin Fallon and Rachel Ulian each had a hat trick for the Magicians (7-4-1). Grace Lavoie was good for two goals and Meg Gray and Emmarose Winder added one each. Molly Depew turned away 19 shots in the win. Peabody goalie Alysa Gaudet had 34 saves.