Sachems get much-needed win over Beverly

SAUGUS – Sitting at 1-3-1 and facing a talented Beverly team at Kasabuski Arena on Monday, the Saugus hockey team knew that coming away with two points was almost a must after losing three of its last four games.The Sachems showed the talent that got them to the North final last year as they pressured the Panthers into making mistakes and Saugus took advantage of them, scoring three third-period goals to pull away to a 5-3 win.”This was a must-win game for us. No question about it,” Sachems coach Jeff Natalucci said. “We had our skating legs (Monday) and when we play like that, we’re able to create chances for ourselves. And we did a good job of that.”Saugus’ blazing speed proved to be a nightmare for a relatively young Panther defense as the Sachems were able to create numerous odd-man rushes in front of freshman goalie Tim Birarelli.”We made a lot of mistakes,” Beverly coach Bob Gilligan said. “We gave up way too many odd-man rushes, something we don’t usually do. (Saugus) played a lot harder than us.”Beverly (3-2-1, 1-2-1 NEC North) actually came out of the gates with the better of the play for the first half of the opening period but Nick Hegarty (29 saves) was able to make several critical saves to keep the game scoreless.The Sachems (2-3-1, 2-1-1) began to take control of the game with five minutes left in the first and would break the ice just after a penalty to Beverly’s Jake Straw expired as Drew Oxley beat Birarelli at 11:32, assisted by Anthony Cieri and A.J. Guthro.Play would even out at the beginning of the second as each netminder would be sternly tested but both were up to the task in the opening minutes. Slowly, though, Saugus’ speed began to open up holes in Beverly’s defense.And just past the midpoint of the game, the Sachems’ second power play unit struck gold. Steve Kay camped at the left post and was right there to pick up a Guthro rebound to increase Saugus’ lead to 2-0.That goal seemed to get the Panthers going as they came at Hegarty from all angles trying to get on the board but came up with a goose egg as the second period expired.”That’s the type of play that we expect from Nick,” Natalucci said.Early in the third, the Panthers got a chance with the power play when Guy Capillo was called for hooking and took full advantage of the opportunity.Andrew Irving niftily kept the puck in the Saugus zone, feeding Matt Hamor in the right circle. His shot was stopped but Connor Irving was right there to bang home the rebound to make it 2-1 with 11:24 left.That goal sparked a wild third period as both teams suddenly found plenty of offense.Two minutes after Irving’s goal, Saige Tait restored the two-goal lead for Saugus with his seventh tally of the season at 6:42. That lead lasted all of 11 seconds as Colby Irving came back for Beverly and scored off a Brendan Mitchell assist to cut the lead back to a singleton.Just over a minute later, Kurt Rodrigues took an Oxley pass and put a backhander over Birarelli’s catching glove to make it 4-2, Sachems. And when Tyler Stretton scored on a power play at 11:06, the Sachem faithful could finally exhale.Connor Irving’s second of the night with 13 seconds remaining capped the frantic final 11 minutes.”That was a huge two points for us. We had to come out of here with a win,” Natalucci said. “We did a good job with a lot of the small things and the guys sacrificed their bodies to make plays (Monday).”