Natalucci hopes Saugus’ momentum continues to soar

This season has already exceeded Saugus boys hockey coach Jeff Natalucci’s expectations ? and then some. So he’s hoping the meteor that is his team will keep on rising when the Sachems play Tewksbury in the Division 2 North final on Friday (Chelmsford Forum, 5:15).”We set the bar high this year,” Natalucci said. “We’re playing good hockey and coming together.”After three years as an assistant at his alma mater (Class of ’95; he is a former hockey captain), Natalucci is enjoying a successful first season as head coach.”Me and my staff were hoping to get our system in place (at the beginning of the season),” Natalucci said, “and that we’d hit our stride in the second half. You know what? We’ve done better all year long.”A few nights ago, Natalucci watched Tewksbury play and described his opponent in the finals as physical.”Their number 21, (Ryan) Doherty, is a real good player,” Natalucci said, “and they have a couple defensemen who get the puck moving. They’ll try to be physical. We have to use our speed and forecheck.”As for his own players, he said that Kurt Rodrigues “is having a real good tournament so far, going to the net hard,” and that he, Saige Tait and Drew Oxley all have “great speed.” The coach also praised his three lines.Goalie Nick Hegarty, meanwhile, has “been as calm as he can be,” Natalucci said. “In the Bishop Fenwick game (a 2-1 Saugus win in the quarterfinals), he made five of five saves in the shootout. When we make a mistake in our own end, he comes up with the big save.”Saugus came into the tournament with 12 wins, only one loss (to Peabody) ? and seven ties.”Everybody (else) was talking about all the ties,” Natalucci said. “We were talking about the one loss. We were playing tournament-type games that prepared us.”Natalucci has some tournament experience of his own. Back in his first year as an assistant, Natalucci’s team lost the North final to Boston Latin, 3-2, in overtime in the Boston Garden.This year, the coach sounds hopeful that his team can continue its leaps-and-bounds progress in the postseason.