Hockey: Beverly girls defeat St. Mary’s

The Beverly girls hockey brought a perfect record into Saturday evening’s showdown with St. Mary’s at Connery Rink and proved that their sensational season has been earned the hard way. Julia Nearis recorded a hat trick for the visiting Panthers who held on to defeat the Spartans 3-2, improving their record to 9-0.”I’m very thankful to have had the opportunity to play a team like St. Mary’s which is the epitome of a model girls program in the state,” said Beverly coach Brian Seabury. “We strive to be good enough to compete with a team of their caliber and today we were fortunate enough to get a win.”The Panthers struck first, with Nearis finishing off a feed from Nicole Woods (three assists) with less than three minutes to play in the opening period. Caitlin McBride picked up the secondary assist.St. Mary’s got the equalizer with 6:11 remaining in the second when Katie Terban scored on an assist from Sarah Ryan. Nearis quickly responded at the 2:20 mark before Maggie Flaherty (from Ashley Wojewodzic and Tatiana Doucette) knotted things with 1:11 to play.Nearis finished off the feat with the game-winner at the 5:25 mark of the final period. The Spartans got 20 saves from Lauren Skinnion in the loss. “Beverly is a very talented team and was the more aggressive team tonight,” explained St. Mary’s coach Frank Pagliuca. “They got a fantastic game from an eighth grader who is quite the goal scorer. Beverly completely deserved to win this game.”Both teams are back in action today, with the Panthers heading to Andover (7:30) while the Spartans are on the road at Lexington (1).Medford 2, Winthrop 1 At Medford, the Bulldogs suffered perhaps their most demoralizing loss of the season, falling to 8-2, despite a 28-17 advantage in shots. Brittani Lanzilli had a goal and an assist for the hosts, who got the game winner from Marissa Williams in the second period. Winthrop/Lynn got a tally from Kasey Harris, with help from defensive partner Cat Salvetti. The Bulldogs play today at home against Cambridge (1).Wilmington 8, Marblehead 1At Wilmington, the Magicians were overpowered by the Wildcats, who got a goal and three assists from Erin Kelley as well as two tallies from Danielle Silva. Marblehead’s lone goal came from Brittany Smith on assists from Brooke Keough and Olivia Fusegni. The hosts put 31 shots on Aly Hopkins while her counterpart, Shelby McHugh finished with 28 saves in the win. The Magicians (4-4-2) will look to right the ship today at Medford (12).BOYS HOCKEYSt. Mary’s 3, Arl. Cath. 1At Ed Burns Arena, the Spartans (3-1-1, 8-4-1) roared out of the blocks, knocked the Cougars (3-1-1, 7-1-1) out of the unbeaten ranks, and moved into a second place tie in the Catholic Central Large. St. Mary’s set the early tone by outshooting AC in the first period, 15-2.Dante Maribito put the Spartans ahead in the first period, Chris Price scored the game-winner late in the second, and eighth-grade defenseman Max McKay created separation midway through the third period. Junior Shawn MacBurnie assisted on all three goals and senior Bailey MacBurnie turned back 23 AC shots, yielding only Andy Somerville’s tying goal at 1:12 of the second period,”It’s great win for us against a very talented Arlington Catholic (team). From our goaltender to our defensive corps, to our forwards, all played with discipline and passion,” said coach Mark Lee.Lynn 4, Swampscott 1At Lynn, the Jets (8-2-1, 6-0-1) moved one step closer to locking up an early state tournament spot, after a victory over the Big Blue. After Louis Olieviri gave Swampscott (1-9-1, 0-6-1) a 1-0 lead 6:43 into the second period, Lynn responded with four unanswered tallies, three in the final 15 minutes. Eric Brazell set up his brother, Mark, for the equalizer before the former scored the games final goal. Pat Finnigan and Tony Uva also tallied for the hosts.Winthrop 2, Peabody 1At Winthrop, the Vikings got two goals from Chris Page as well as 22 saves in net from Ray Feeley in a win over the Tanne