Spartans overwhelm Lincoln-Sudbury

NEWBURYPORT – From the moment junior forward Tommy Braswell planted a Lincoln-Sudbury defenseman on the rear wall just seconds removed from the opening faceoff, it was apparent St. Mary’s arrived at Graf Rink Wednesday night ready to play with single-minded focus.And play they did, dismantling Lincoln-Sudbury, 11-1, in a Bresnahan Division semifinal match-up at the 16th annual Newburyport Bank Classic. The Spartans (13-5-3) rolled four lines and six defensemen throughout and were powered by sophomore forward Cam O’Neill’s four-goal outburst. Jordan Manthorne (goal, three assists), Jake Witkowski (goal, assist), Cam Kennedy (goal, assist) and Bobby Mullins (three assists) also enjoyed multi-point nights. In all, 18 players found the score sheet as St. Mary’s unleashed a 41-shot barrage.St. Mary’s clearly was looking for an opponent on which to take out the frustration of losing three straight games to Division One’s two top-ranked teams, Malden Catholic and Weymouth, as well as Springfield Cathedral and the overmatched Warriors (10-7-2) proved the perfect foil.”I was proud of our effort throughout the game. We came out hard from the start – there are still some things at stake for us here,” said coach Mark Lee. “The way the schedule unfolded, having to play three teams of that caliber in five days took a toll on us, physically and mentally, but I loved our effort in each of those games and I loved our effort tonight.”St. Mary’s forechecked with abandon from the outset and that relentless pressure paid off at 7:45 of the first period when O’Neill notched his first, tapping the rebound of Bucky Surrette’s shot from the right circle that handcuffed LS goalie Peter Kraemer into the open left side. Senior Derek Stella doubled the margin 44 seconds later, sifting through the LS defense after a faceoff to Kraemer’s left before shoving a one-handed shot into the short side corner as the goalie strayed far off his post.The floodgates opened early in the second period when Manthorne and Witkowski both converted close-range opportunities 18 seconds apart at 2:13 and 2:31, respectively. The lead grew to 7-0 by period’s end on goals by Braswell, O’Neill (shorthanded) and Kennedy (with two seconds left in the period). Once the Spartans established an eight-goal lead midway through the third period, running time was employed for the remainder of the game. Goalies Donald Hesse and Stephen Poliskey split time equally, finishing with six saves each.St. Mary’s meets Newburyport for the Bresnahan Division title for the second straight year Friday night at 7. The Clippers defeated Danvers, 4-3, in a semifinal shootout Tuesday night and edged the Spartans in a shootout last season, 1-0.”We look forward to playing in this tournament every year. It’s always very competitive. Hopefully we’ll be just as hungry and ready to go Friday against Newburyport,” said Lee.