When the St. Mary?s boys? hockey team opened the season 0-4-1, you could have gotten pretty good odds that the Spartans wouldn?t be a part of the postseason. But coach Mark Lee?s team turned it around to finish 12-3-2 in its final 17 games, closing out the regular season with a 6-1 win over Hamden, Conn., in the Cathedral Hockey Classic?s consolation game on Thursday at the Olympia Center in West Springfield.
?We are hoping that we can keep going the way we?ve been playing once the playoffs start,” Lee said. “We feel like if we come to play, that we are able to play with anyone.”
On Thursday, the Spartans (12-7-3) had to shake off a goal by Hamden just eight seconds in. They did so thanks to the brilliant play of Eric Pedro, who notched a goal and three assists.
Pedro and Mark Zampanti set up Jon Powers?s tying goal late in the second period. Pedro then picked up an assist on Max McKay?s go-ahead goal at 9:20 of the second before netting one of his own at 10:54 to make it 3-1 after two periods.
Dante Maribito put the game out of reach with his 15thand 16thgoals of the season in the third period before Mike Desmond scored with 57 seconds left to cap the night.
Mike Zampanti had a pair of assists while Mark Zampanit, Joe Scalli, Shawn MacBurnie and Andrew Kreamer each had an assist. .
?I was really proud of how we responded after losing (7-0 to Springfield Cathedral) on Wednesday,” Lee said. “We had a lot of guys contributing and who played really well.”
Marblehead 5, Beverly 3
The Magicians (14-5-1) completed a strong second half of the season with their sixth straight victory. Braden Haley led the way with two goals and two assists giving him a conference-leading 20 goals and 33 points.
Linemates Tim Kalinowski and Cam McDonald added a goal and an assist while James McCarthy also had a goal for Marblehead.
The Panthers (6-11) led 2-1 as Clinton Cabral and Tim McCarthy sandwiched goals around a Kalinowski tally. Marblehead took the lead when Haley and McCarthy scored three minutes apart in the second but Teddy Leathersich tied it for Beverly at 10:32.
It stayed tied until Kalinowski and Haley set up McDonald with 7:07 left. Haley?s empty-net goal with 51 seconds left sealed the win for the Magicians.
?We were kind of stagnant in the first period,” Marblehead coach Bob Jackson said. “But we came out and played better in the second and then very well in the third.”Revere 3, Swampscott 1
Joe Restino (two goals, assist) and Richie Polignone (goal, two assists) each turned in three-point games as the Patriots (3-14-3) closed conference play on a positive note.
Restino, assisted by Steve Noel and Polignone, gave Revere a 1-0 lead before Swampscott?s Ryan Donnelly scored an unassisted goal to tie the score after one.
Restino struck again early in the second, assisted by Noel and Polignone, to give the Patriots the lead back. Polignone tacked on an empty-net goal with 1:59 left in the game to close out the scoring.
Triton 3, Danvers 3
The Falcons (11-7-3) had a 3-1 lead in the second period but had to settle for a point in the consolation game of the Bresnahan Division at the Newburyport Bank Classic.
Ryan Buchanan, Steve Ganley and T.J. Deinstadt took care of the goal scoring for Danvers.
Matignon 4, Bishop Fenwick 2
The Crusaders (6-11-3) had a 2-1 led after one period on goals from Rob Murphy and Eric Giguere. But the Warriors scored midway through the second to tie the game. Matignon added goals 22 seconds apart late in the second to take the lead for good.
Bobby Lombardi had 24 stops in goal for Fenwick, who got assists from Greg McGunigle, Chris Napolitano and Jake Mitchell.
North Reading 4, Lynnfield 0North Reading shutout Lynnfield to eliminate the Pioneers (6-9-3) from postseason contention.
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