Rodrigues nets pair as Sachems outlast Pentucket

NEWBURYPORT – Following Monday afternoon’s rugged 6-3 win against Pentucket in the Gulazian Division semifinal of the 16th Newburyport Bank Classic at Graf Rink, Saugus High coach Jeff Natalucci hoped his club absorbed a useful lesson.”We’ve got to toughen up and become thicker-skinned,” said Natalucci after the Sachems got thrown off their game by the hard-nosed, gritty style of their West Newbury namesakes. What had been a 5-0 lead through 30 minutes shrank to 5-3 midway through the third period. “They (Pentucket) have had a tough year but they were playing hard and we knew it might get chippy. We’ve got to find a way to rise above those things and skate away.”Which Saugus (11-1-7) didn’t do in a third period when it was assessed 10 of its game total of 14 minor penalties. The Sachems’ PK unit was plenty busy, facing 10 power plays totaling 12:02 – including 2:37 worth of 5-on-3’s – and killing all but one. Sanity was restored when junior Kurt Rodrigues buried his second goal with 2:45 to play, completing a four-point outing.Rodrigues and classmates Drew Oxley (goal, three assists) and Saige Tait (goal, assist) were the trigger men in a dominant first period when Saugus sprinted to a 4-0 lead, sandwiching two even-strength strikes around both power play and shorthanded tallies.”We wanted to get off to a good start and we did. We want to be playing tournament-level hockey this week and we did in the first period,” Natalucci said. “When those three are skating like they were today, they are extremely dangerous. They’re three of the fastest kids in our league and they all have great hands.”Saugus jumped to a 1-0 lead just 1:26 into the game when Rodrigues’ blind backhand dish from the rear wall set up freshman Steve Fay for a close-range finish over the left shoulder of Pentucket goalie Samantha Bomba (22 saves). Rodrigues then set up Oxley on the power play at 7:37 and scored his own shortie at 11:14, on each occasion leaving Pentucket defenders in his wake at the offensive blue line with artful dodges. Tait completed the opening salvo at 13:19, snapping home a low wrister for what proved to be the game-winning goal.Tyler Stretton connected for the only goal of an otherwise uneventful second period, staking Saugus to a 5-0 lead. Little did anyone suspect that stellar stops by goalie Nick Hegarty (21 saves) in the final minute of the second period and opening minute of the third would prove crucial – but they did. Pentucket (1-16-2) packed perhaps its most potent offensive burst of the season into a span of 4:31, scoring three times and drawing to 5-3 on Max Mangano’s goal with 7:13 left.However, Saugus regrouped, settled down and completed a season sweep, having also defeated Pentucket 5-2 in the Kasabuski Christmas Tournament in December. Saugus takes on Shawsheen for the Gulazian Division championship Wednesday night at 7.