Saugus hockey stays strong

NEWBURYPORT – Mathematically speaking, the Saugus boys hockey team is still in the hunt for a state tournament berth. With five games remaining, the Sachems must win out to pull off the feat.Regardless of what happens, one thing is certain; the Sachems are going to see this thing through to the finish and their gutsy 4-3 victory over Newburyport at Graf Rink proved they are up for the challenge.?Our record (5-10, 4-7) isn?t the greatest, but our guys continue to fight and have kept our hopes alive,” said Saugus coach Jeff Natalucci, whose team has won four of its last five games. “We can only take it a game at a time from here.”The Sachems scored three times on eight shots in the second period to grab a 4-2 lead before withstanding the Clippers? stubborn efforts in the final 15 minutes.Tied at one entering the middle frame, Saugus grabbed its first lead just 22 seconds in when defenseman John Morey fired home a slap shot from the point following a face-off win from Nik Straticos.The hosts responded with the equalizer 2:18 later when Travis Wile finished off a great feed from Ben Ventura, stationed behind the net.Fellow blue-liner Joe Russo restored the Sachems lead with his second tally of the afternoon, a laser to the top right corner at 5:55.Saugus? leading-scorer, Steve Kay, who assisted on the go-ahead goal, scored with 1:23 remaining on a chip shot over the shoulder of goaltender Robert Federico. Pat Cross and Brendan Ronan picked up helpers.?We?ve been trying some new things in practices to get our defensemen the puck quicker,” explained Natalucci. “We have a few kids with big shots back there and good things happen when they hit the net, as we saw today.”Newburyport would pull to within one early in the third period when Tyson Gudaitis (from Andrew Williams and Brendan Barraclough) scored after an attempted shot deflected right onto his tape at the top of the crease.Saugus would ultimately hold on despite being outshot 10-4 in the period (38-12 overall), dropping the Clippers to 9-7-1 overall, and 7-4-1 in the Cape Ann League.The opening period was thoroughly dominated by the hosts, who took a 1-0 lead at the 10:57 mark when Scott Webster scored with Sachems goalie David Aiken down and out following an initial bid from Gudaitis. A secondary assist was credited to Conor Brennan.Trailing 15-1 in shots, the Sachems made their final chance of the period count.With 12.7 ticks remaining, Russo scored from the right point on a slap shot that fought its way through Noah Kolesha, who was removed for the second before returning in the third.?When you go down 1-0 early, it?s easy for a team to pack it in, but we stuck with it and got the tying goal,” explained Natalucci. “That set the tone for us in the second period before we did what we had to in the third to hold on.”Natalucci also spoke of the recent surge his team has put on.?The kids have really responded lately to the changes we?ve made,” he said. “We started off the season 1-9 but everybody has bought in. I?m proud of the way they?ve stuck together and hopefully we?ll continue to build off of the recent success.”