SAUGUS — The Saugus boys hockey team took another step in the right direction last season when it qualified for the Division 2 North tournament, and then went all the way to the semis before losing to top-ranked Lowell Catholic.
This year, despite losing some key players, the Sachems are looking to continue that forward momentum.
“Last year was absolutely a step in the right direction for our program,” said Saugus coach Jeff Natalucci, who is entering his eighth season with the Sachems. “Now this year we just have to pick up where last year’s team left off and continue to improve.”
The improvements will come with a slightly new group of players, as the Sachems lost all four of their captains and their top two scorers. Brendan Ronan (30 points), Brenden Patterson (19 points), Mike Sarnacchiaro (14 points) and Jimmy Alcott (10 points) have all graduated.
“We lost some scoring and leadership from last year, but I think we’ll be okay,” Natalucci said. “We’ve got enough guys here who have the ability to perform, and it’s their turn to step up. We’ve got a good group of guys coming back.”
Leading the way for the returning players is senior goalie Nick Sanderson, who had a .900 save percentage his junior season before putting on a show in the Division 2 North tournament.
“He really showed everyone what he can do on the big stage last year,” Natalucci said of Sanderson.
Junior Dante McGrane is the top returning scorer from last year, registering 17 points in his sophomore campaign. Seniors Ryan Groark (14 points) and John Torres (13 points) headline the group of seven returning seniors to the 2017 team.
“These are guys who have played a lot for us over the last couple of years, so we have a bit of an advantage there,” said Natalucci. “Add in the experience they all picked up in last year’s tournament, and I think we’re really going to see even more growth this year.”
That growth will need to take place if the Sachems want to compete in the always-competitive Northeastern Conference.
“In the NEC, every night is a big game,” Natalucci said. “I think that’s a big reason why you see a lot of NEC teams perform well in the tournament every year, because every team has to grind through this tough schedule. So we know we’re going to have to come out and execute every single night if we want to compete.”
Things have gotten off to a decent start, albeit in a preseason game. In their first game action of the year, the Sachems took down Revere/Malden 2-1 at the NEC jamboree at Salem State University Sunday. Next up is regular season game No. 1, when Saugus hosts Gloucester at Kasabuski Rink on Dec. 13.
