Sachems falter in finale, 5-3

NEWBURYPORT – A frustrating season came to a frustrating finish for Saugus Thursday night as Matignon erupted for four unanswered third-period goals to topple the Sachems, 5-3, in the Bresnahan Division consolation game of the 18th annual Newburyport Bank Classic at Graf Rink.The third period served as a microcosm of a season in which the Sachems (2-16-2) scored first 14 times but suffered six one-goal losses along the way.”It’s been the case all year – we just haven’t played the full 45 minutes. It would’ve been nice to get a win for our three seniors in their final game, but this is a young team with a lot of freshmen and sophomores. I thought in the first two periods we had really good jump and our forecheck was the best we’ve had all year,” said coach Jeff Natalucci.Saugus took it to Matignon (8-10-3) through the first 30 minutes, attacking with authority and playing stout defense anchored by junior goalie David Aiken (29 saves).Sophomore Anthony Cieri staked Saugus to a 1-0 lead 3:48 into the first period with a right post deposit of the rebound of junior Steve Kay’s initial shot. Matignon’s Mike McPherson matched that 18 seconds later when his shot from the low left circle broke through Aiken. Kay came within inches of restoring the Saugus lead with 21 seconds left in the period but pinged the crossbar.He didn’t miss early in the second period, personally delivering a 3-1 Saugus lead. Just 52 seconds into the period his backhander from the left circle completely fooled Matignon goalie Ryan Mahan (19 saves). Then, at 4:15, Kay curled off the rear wall to Mahan’s right and beat him over the shoulder to the short side.”Steve has pretty good speed to the outside and he used it on the first goal and a number of other chances,” said Natalucci.Matignon began to turn the momentum late in the second period and carried it into the third. By the time Saugus registered its first shot on net with 9:28 to play, the Warriors had pulled even on goals by J.T. Nichols at 3:05 and Chris Collier at 3:27. R.J. Guardia’s power play strike at 8:06 gave Matignon its first lead and Jonathan Andrews closed the scoring with 1:59 left on the power play.As Saugus prepares for next year’s move to the Cape Ann League, Natalucci stressed the importance of the off-season.”This is our biggest off-season since I’ve been coach. We have to put in the work and continue to improve. We’re still going to be a young team and we have to get better,” he said.