FILE PHOTO
Brendan Ronan and the Sachems are in the state tournament with Friday’s win.
By MIKE ALONGI
For the first time in five years, the Saugus boys hockey team is heading to the state tournament after a 2-1 win over the Peabody Tanners in a Northeastern Conference matchup at McVann-O’Keefe Memorial Rink in Peabody on Friday night. The Sachems (8-4-4) last appeared in the MIAA tournament in the 2011-2012 season.
“I’m just really happy for the guys, it was a complete team effort to get this far,” said Saugus coach Jeff Natalucci. “We’ve had to battle all year, so it feels good to finally get in there.”
Brendan Ronan and Dante McGrane were the scorers in this one, with each tallying one goal and one assist. John Torres and Adam Rodrigues each had one assist. Saugus senior goaltender Nick Sanderson finished with 27 saves.
With the tournament bid secured, the Sachems will look to improve their seeding over the final four games of the season, starting this evening at Paul Cronin MDC Rink in Revere for a matchup with Revere/Malden.
“We’re going to be going up against some really good teams to close out the year, teams like Marblehead, North Reading and Stoneham,” said Natalucci. “Revere is right there too, battling to get in, so we’re going to have to play our best hockey down the stretch in order to prepare for the tournament.”
For Peabody (2-11-3), Nick Capillo was the lone goal scorer.
“We just can’t score, and then we somehow manage to get beaten with a late goal, and you can see the kids are getting frustrated,” Peabody coach Mark Leonard said.
The Tanners are back in action on Wednesday night with a game against Beverly back at McVann.
GIRLS HOCKEY
Beverly/Danvers 2, Billerica/Chelmsford 2
The Panthers remain undefeated on the year following a tie at the Chelmsford Forum in North Billerica on Friday afternoon. Beverly/Danvers (14-0-2) will look to continue its undefeated season this afternoon against Masconomet at Valley Forum in Haverhill.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
St. Mary’s 42, Austin Prep 39 (2OT)
Olivia Nazaire had 18 points and Gabby Torres poured in 15 points in the fourth quarter and overtime periods to lift the Spartans to a double-overtime win on the road on Friday night.
“We didn’t play a great game tonight, which contributed to us falling behind early,” said St. Mary’s coach Jeff Newhall. “But we rallied and played well at the end. It was a great team effort.”
Trailing 24-15 early in the fourth quarter, the Spartans went on a 13-2 run to go up 28-26 before the Cougars tied it up at 32-32 to end regulation. The two teams remained tied after the first overtime before St. Mary’s pulled away in the second overtime. Torres hit a three-pointer to tie the score with 45 seconds left, then Mia Nowicki hit the game-sealing free throws to give the Spartans the win.
St. Mary’s (12-6) will take on Cathedral on the road Tuesday night.
Bishop Fenwick 47, Arlington Catholic 44
The Crusaders notched their first win over their Catholic Central League foe in eight years in a home game on Friday night. Senior captain Sam Mancinelli led the way with 19 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Jennie Meagher had four points and nine rebounds and Fredi DeGuglielmo had eight points.
With the win, Fenwick (11-6) has earned a tournament bid and will have an opportunity to defend their MIAA Division 3 state title.
Danvers 52, Gloucester 31
The Falcons were led by Siobhan Moriarty (12 points) and Sarah Unczur (12 points, seven rebounds), while Elena Clifford (11 points, 13 rebounds) and Lili Montanari (10 points, 10 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles.
Danvers (9-7) will take on a strong Revere team on Monday night with a chance at a state tournament bid.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Gloucester 63, Danvers 57
Marc Smith led the way for the Fishermen (6-10) with 25 points, while Evan Mason had a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
For Danvers, Sean Rooney was the top scorer with 22 points.
