North Shore boys, girls hockey teams get ready for state tournament

Six of the area’s nine hockey tournament qualifiers – six boys teams, three girls teams – drew first-round byes and will wait for up to a week before beginning postseason play.Only the Winthrop/Lynn girls, who take on Andover in Division One preliminary play tonight at home (6:10); and the Winthrop and Danvers boys, who play back-to-back Division Two North Sectional first-round games tomorrow night at Salem State at 5 and 7, respectively, hit the ice right away.BOYSDivision 1AFresh off its first Catholic Conference championship since 1994, St. John’s Prep (17-2-1) earned the top seed in the state’s premier tournament for the first time. The Eagles face the winner of tonight’s play-in game between No. 8 Central Catholic (13-5-3) and No. 9 Hingham (13-7-2) in a best-of-three quarterfinal series starting Sunday at Tsongas Arena in Lowell. The Prep split back-to-back December games against those teams, defeating Hingham, 4-1, while falling to Central, 2-1.”Obviously everybody who is in the tournament had a great season. It’s hard to say who we match up with better. The loss to Central concerns me a bit and we didn’t have an easy time with Hingham, which is a traditionally strong team,” said St. John’s coach Kris Hanson, whose clubs lost to two-time defending champion Malden Catholic in the 2011 title game and in the 2012 semifinal round.Four forwards – seniors Brian Pinho (36 points) and Andrew Brandano and juniors Tyler Bird and Jack McCarthy – have scored at least 10 goals to lead the Eagles’ well-balanced offense and nine forwards have double-digit points. Juniors Ean Mendeszoon and Evan LeClerc and senior Kevin Brightney anchor the defense in front of senior goalie Billy Price (1.35 gaa, .917 save pct., 3 SOs).”We’ve relied on our depth this year and the ability to roll four lines and three sets of defensemen has been a key. I’ve done that more than ever before this year because they’ve all performed so well. Our three fourth-line kids all have double figures in points,” Hanson said.He said the Eagles are treating the top seed for what it is – a reward for a season’s worth of great accomplishments.Division 2 NorthTop-seeded NEC North champion Beverly (18-1-1) will take on the winner of tomorrow night’s first-round match-up between Danvers and Somerville in Saturday’s quarterfinals (TBD).The Panthers have bludgeoned opponents all season, outscoring them, 97-20. Cousins Andrew Irving, a senior, and Connor Irving, a junior, have both eclipsed 40 points, while junior Graham Doherty has tallied a team-high 21 goals. Goalies Tim Birarelli, a sophomore who sees most of the work, and junior Bryce Mitchell have combined for six shutouts.No. 8 Danvers (10-6-4) finished second in the NEC North but the Falcons struggled to a 4-4-2 second-half finish and lost both regular-season meetings to Beverly (3-0, 4-2). Senior captains A.J. Couto (18 goals) and Joe Strangie (12 goals) have accounted for just about half of the Falcons’ output. Sophomore Alex Taylor (3 SOs) has been solid in goal. No. 9 Somerville (10-6-4) won the Greater Boston League title but was sub-.500 against non-league competition.No. 7 Winthrop (10-5-5), a Sectional finalist last year, tied for third in the NEC North and will take on No. 8 Triton (12-8-1), the Cape Ann League runner-up, tomorrow at Salem State. Winthrop (both teams are the Vikings) leans heavily on sophomore goalie Ray Feeley (6 SOs). Junior forward Chris Page (16-17-33) and sophomore forward Pierce Lamberton (11-13-24) are the offensive catalysts while junior Steven Goddard anchors the back line in front of Feeley. The winner advances to a quarterfinal date with No. 2 Lincoln-Sudbury (15-2-3).Division 3 NorthIf the bracket holds true, No. 2 Marblehead (17-5-0), the 2011 State Champion, and No. 3 Swampscott (15-5-0) will meet in a semifinal showdown. Both drew byes into the quarterfinal round and begin their post-season quest Saturday. Marblehead won both regular-season games (6-3, 5-0).The NEC South champion