BC High too much for Spartans

LYNN – What a difference a year makes.Last year, St. Mary’s and BC High were on course to meet in the Super 8 tourney. This season, a young Spartans squad put up a game battle but dropped a 5-1 decision to the Eagles, a consensus top-three team in the state.Click here for a photo gallery.The defeat put the breaks on an 18-year run of tournament appearances for St. Mary’s, a streak that head coach Mark Lee hopes to restart next winter.”This was a big transition year and it’s a tribute to our core of seniors (Ryan Madden, Dan Donovan, Andrew Markham, Cam Grenham and Steve Russo) that they really held this group together,” said Lee. “They took our young kids under their wing and showed them the St. Mary’s way.”With a group of solid sophomores in goalies Connor Jennings and Nick Holt as well as forward Jon Powers, the Spartans’ future is bright. But against an elite 11-2-3 BC High squad, last night loomed as a mismatch. Add on five St. Mary’s penalties resulting in three Eagle power play goals, and victory was an impossible task.”Offensively they are, arguably, the most talented in the state,” said Lee. “You can’t compete with the best playing shorthanded.”Five different Eagles lit the lamp with junior Tom Besinger and freshman Ryan Shea leading the way with a goal and two assists apiece.Ironically, St. Mary’s (now 6-11-2) snapped the shutout with 1:54 left in the game when junior Jordan Manthorne stole a cross-point pass to set up his own breakaway. Gliding down the slot, he snapped a perfect wrister over backup goalie Garrison Norton’s left shoulder and into the net.”Playing a team like BC High gives each of the players a measuring stick to see what they have to do to improve their games,” concluded Lee. “Hopefully, they’ll be that good in the future.”