Melrose wears out Sachems in Kasabuski Tournament

SAUGUS – While the Saugus and Melrose hockey teams are both laden with underclassmen – a combined total of 37 freshmen, sophomores and juniors – the similarities pretty much end there. That was apparent in Thursday afternoon’s final game of the Kasabuski Christmas Classic, won handily by the Red Raiders, 6-1.Melrose (3-3-0), of the Middlesex League Freedom Division, has shown tangible progress under new coach Vin Mirasolo since a season-opening one-goal loss to perennial Div. 1A contender Reading, including last Saturday’s upset of defending Division 1 State Champion Burlington. Conversely, inconsistency continues to plague the Sachems, who slipped to 0-4-0 and have been outscored, 24-4, to start the season.”Our effort is not there for 45 minutes and in high school hockey anything less doesn’t get it done. Yesterday against Wakefield I thought we took a step forward. Today we took two steps back,” said Saugus coach Jeff Natalucci.”I think the bottom line is that, from where we started (0-3) we’re now 3-3. The kids are really trying to play the way we’re teaching them and they’re working hard. Our penalties are way down, we’re moving the puck better and it’s exciting to see the progress,” said Mirasolo, the former long-time coach at Lynnfield. “Our captains (Cam McGuire, Max Karelas and Conor Tryder) are doing a great job leading us and the sum of our parts is better than our individual players.”Melrose dominated the first period but Saugus goalie Anthony Allan (two periods, 16 saves) had larcenous glove stops against Eric Mercer at 6:36 and Brian McLaughlin at 10:33 before yielding the period’s lone goal at 13:41 as the unmarked Mercer had ample time to pick his spot from close range, beating Allan to the far side.After a passive first period in which they were outshot, 12-1, the Sachems had plenty of jump in their step to start the second and dictated play for the first 10 minutes. However, a fluke goal from the defenseman Tryder – whose wrist shot from the blue line hit a Saugus player in front and sailed past Allan short side at 10:51 – sparked a three-goal burst in a span of 2:05 that put the game away. McGuire struck for nearly identical goals at 11:14 and 12:56 with wrist shots from the mid slot that beat Allan over the glove.”That line (McGuire, McLaughlin, Zack Mercer) worked the cycle very well. That pass (from the rear wall) was definitely there,” Mirasolo said.Saugus’ senior captain and defenseman Anthony LoPresti notched the Sachems’ lone goal with 2:48 to play, a power play strike sandwiched between Melrose goals from Ethan Platcow at 10:31 and Chris Brown at 12:58.Wakefield 6, Danvers 3The Falcons (4-1-1) built a 3-2 lead after one period behind two power play goals from A.J. Couto sandwiched around a Joe Strangie strike before succumbing to their Middlesex Freedom opponents. The Warriors (3-2-1) led, 4-3, after two periods then put it away late with two goals in the final five minutes, including an empty-netter.”This was a good test, a physical and emotional character test for us to play up. I thought we played hard against a good team from a tough league and hung in there until the last couple of minutes. It was good to face this kind of challenge,” said Danvers coach Kevin Brown.Bp. Fenwick 4, Lynnfield 0The Crusaders (2-5-0) snapped a five-game losing streak with a solid all-around performance. Lynnfield (0-4-1) continued to struggle to generate offense and has been shut out four times.After the teams played more than 29 minutes of scoreless hockey, Nick Finan scored what proved to be the game-winner for the Crusaders late in the second period. Drew Thibodeau and Mike Napolitano (two) added third-period scores.