Late goals help Saugus boys hockey tie Winthrop

WINTHROP – For 44-plus minutes on Saturday at Larsen Arena, the Saugus hockey team was outworked and frankly outplayed by the defending NEC North champs from Winthrop. But with one 13-second span, the Sachems flashed a little bit of the championship caliber they possess.Down 3-1 with 40 seconds left, the Sachems got goals 13 seconds apart from Tyler Stretton and Saige Tait to steal away a 3-3 tie. Yet Saugus coach Jeff Natalucci knew his team got away with one.”We were outworked, no question about that,” Natalucci said. “But we showed a lot of character in coming back like that. But we need to play for 45 minutes, not just the last two.”The Vikings (0-1-1) had played a phenomenal game in front of freshman netminder Ray Feeley and when Chris LeBlanc scored his second goal of the night with 8:13 left, Winthrop was in full command, 3-1.It was still 3-1 after the Sachems survived a Nick Taylor hooking penalty with 4:32 left, and even when Nick Hegarty was pulled for an extra attacker with 1:00 remaining. But the Vikings iced the puck with 45 seconds left, giving Saugus a chance.And like good teams do, the Sachems jumped on the opportunity as Tait poked a loose puck towards Stretton, who ripped a shot over Feeley’s glove with 39.2 seconds remaining.The Sachems then won the ensuing faceoff and got the puck back in the Winthrop end. Drew Oxley won a battle in the left wing corner and fed a perfect pass in front for Tait’s one-timer inside the left post.”Winthrop was hungry and they played hard,” Natalucci said. “But we didn’t quit and that’s a good thing to see. But we’re not good enough to just show up and think we’re going to win.”The teams each had seven shots on net in the first period but the Vikings headed to the intermission with a 1-0 lead on Danny Eruzione’s goal at 11:17, assisted by LeBlanc.The Vikings had a chance to extend the lead early in the second when they went on the power play, but Saugus’ penalty kill was stout and didn’t allow a shot. Three minutes later, the Sachems got a chance on the man advantage when Hershey Beard was called for cross-checking.The Vikings, however, turned the tables when Jimmy Barker blocked a shot and sent LeBlanc in on a partial breakaway. He beat Hegarty clean with a snap shot inside the left post.Saugus responded almost immediately as Danny Groark kept the puck in the Winthrop zone and saw his slap shot from the point redirected past Feeley by Tait to make it 2-1 after two periods.