ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Swampscott’s Stevie Santanello (right) carries the puck to the net and tries to get a shot off, but Brookline’s Felix Madsen-Hardy denies the shot.
By KATIE MORRISON
BOSTON — The Swampscott boys hockey team didn’t know much about its opponent, Brookline, heading into Monday morning’s game.
But that didn’t matter much as the Big Blue skated to a 3-1 win over the Warriors at Walter Brown Arena on the campus of Boston University.
Swampscott shook off a quiet first period in which the Big Blue couldn’t find the net. They bounced back and scored twice in the second period and once in the third to take a 3-0 lead before the Warriors got on the board in the latter stages of the game.
“We overcame a slow start and got back to our style of hockey in the second and third,” Swampscott coach Gino Faia said. “We had good, solid defense, and it was overall a good team effort. I’m happy to get the win on the road.”
The first period was evenly-matched and back-and-forth, but the Big Blue had the best early scoring chance four minutes in. Drew Olivieri took a shot that Brookline goalie Felix Madsen-Hardy turned away. Zach Elwell tried to redirect the rebound, but Madsen-Hardy made another save. Oliveri kept the pressure on in the middle of a scrum in the crease, but the keeper covered the puck to end the threat.
The Big Blue had several other chances to score in the period, but couldn’t find the back of the net and the game remained scoreless.
Swampscott turned things around and came out hot in the second period. Two minutes in, David Peterson fired in a shot from the right faceoff circle that was saved. Stevie Santanello shuffled the rebound across the net, where Louis Olivieri was waiting to tip it in.
Just two minutes later, Elwell picked up a pass from Conor Donovan and took the puck all the way up from the defensive zone and beat Madsen-Hardy to his left to give Swampscott a 2-0 lead. Donovan, a freshman, earned the first varsity point of his career on the assist.
The Big Blue held onto the lead despite having to kill two penalties at the end of the period.
“I thought our penalty kill was on today,” Faia said. “We were anticipating where the puck would be to block shots and the defense was getting good reads.”
Swampscott added an insurance goal with seven minutes left in the third period. Santanello picked up the puck in the neutral zone and had a one-on-one with Brookline’s Madsen-Hardy, who came far out of the net to cut down the angle. Madsen-Hardy dove to try and knock the puck off Santanello’s stick, but the Big Blue forward snuck around the goalie and buried the puck in the empty net.
Brookline got one back on Zack Cohen’s goal with 4:32 to play, and kept Swampscott goalie Victor Kratik, making his first start of the season, busy between the pipes. Fortunately for Swampscott, the Big Blue shut down any scoring chances the Warriors created late.
Swampscott out-shot Brookline 28-15 and attempted 68 shots, 22 of which were blocked by the Brookline defense.
The Big Blue (5-1) are back in action when they skate against Peabody on Wednesday night (6:30) at Salem State.
Katie Morrison can be reached at [email protected].
