Lynnfield hockey upends Winthrop

WINTHROP – For much of the first part of the new millennium, when you thought of Division 2 North hockey, one of the first teams that came to mind was Lynnfield. And rightly so, as under the guidance of Vin Mirasolo, the Pioneers reached five North finals in 10 years.Recently, though, the Pioneers had fallen off the radar. But on Monday at Larsen Arena, Lynnfield showed that it just might be back among the big boys again.The Pioneers rallied from a 2-0 first-period deficit to take the lead and then survived a fluke 200-foot goal by Winthrop thanks to Greg Meiniger’s game-winner with 6:48 left for a 4-3 win over the Vikings.”This team is resilient,” Mirasolo said. “And that’s a credit to the seniors and the leadership we have. We didn’t play well at all in the first period but to come back from 2-0 against a team of that caliber says a lot.”Lynnfield (8-1-1) was sluggish out of the gates Monday afternoon and the Vikings (6-3-2) made the Pioneers pay almost immediately. Jimmy Barker’s long pass to Dan Eruzione led to a rebound that Chris LeBlanc shoveled past Joe Bassi for his 13th goal of the year just 39 seconds in.After killing off a Lynnfield power play, the Vikings’ top line was at it again.Eruzione ripped a shot from the right circle that Bassi was able to turn away. The rebound, though, came right to Matt Todisco and he finished it to give Winthrop a 2-0 lead after a dominant first period.”We didn’t have a very strong first period and a lot of that credit goes to Winthrop,” Mirasolo said. “They’re the best team that we’ve played all year and they came out flying.”Lynnfield needed a lift early in the second and got it when the Pioneers killed off a Winthrop power play. Moments later, the Pioneers’ top unit showed its talents.John Festa fed Meiniger for a shot that deflected off Steve Waites’ glove and the crossbar before bouncing right onto the stick of Dylan Costa for an easy tap-in at 4:27 to cut the lead in half.Two minutes later, the Vikings would be two men down for :39 and Lynnfield would tie the game when Jeremy Young’s shot from the left point got past a screened Waites following a Meiniger face-off win.The Pioneers were relentless in getting 10 of the first 11 shots on goal in the period. And Chris Davis’ first career goal came at an opportune time as his shot bounced off a Winthrop stick with a delayed penalty being called to make it 3-2 Lynnfield with 5:19 left in the second.”That first period was probably as bad as we’ve had all year,” Mirasolo said. “But the second period was great, even with the way it ended.”How it ended for the Pioneers could have been demoralizing in every sense. Mitch Paulson’s clearing play down ice with a minute left would somehow get past Bassi to draw Winthrop even at the second intermission.”Joe played fantastic and he’s a microcosm of this team,” Mirasolo said. “He’s not always perfect but he’s mentally tough.”That toughness was on display in the third as Bassi kept the game tied with a couple of critical saves early in the period. The Pioneers then went ahead for good as Costa cleared the puck up to Festa in the neutral zone, leading to a 2-on-1 with Meiniger, who finished a perfect pass in front.