REVERE— The Revere boys hockey team came into Friday afternoon’s game against Peabody looking to end its regular season on a positive. Three periods later, it was mission accomplished for the Patriots but not without a fight from Nick Capillo and the underdog Tanners.
Capillo, a junior forward, logged a hat trick but the Patriots took the 9-5 victory at Cronin Rink to close out the regular season for both teams.
Revere, state tournament bound, was led by hat tricks from Mike Goroshko and Mike Giordano. Marc Giordano scored two goals and Wayne Cintolo added one.
“We really haven’t gotten on a roll all year,” Revere coach Joe Ciccarello said. “We haven’t had a big win. To win these last two games against Division 2 teams, and get two wins for our seniors, hopefully that builds a little momentum. You never know what can happen in March.”
For Peabody, Andrew Phillips and Jack McKelvey each scored one goal in addition to Capillo’s three.
“Nick was our leading scorer this season” Peabody coach Mark Leonard said. “He’s real good player. He has a tremendous shot, he has some speed. Hopefully he’ll have another big year next year. It’s nice that he’s back.”
Revere got things started quickly coming out of the gate. Goroshko picked up a loose puck 90 seconds into the game and flicked it into the net for the game’s first goal. Cintolo concerted on another loose puck in front of the net, two minutes later, and the Patriots carried a 2-0 lead just four minutes into the afternoon.
Peabody didn’t quit.
Peabody’s Capillo and Marc Giordano swapped goals to end the first period at 3-1 in Revere’s favor.
Capillo added two more goals to his performance, both in the opening minute of the second period, to knot the game at 3-3.
The Patriots took control of the period from there. Two goals each from Goroshko and Mike Giordano gave Revere a commanding 7-3 lead after two periods of play.
“We always talk about how we respond. It’s always about how we respond to what happens,” Ciccarello said. “Once we respond to what happens and keep coming at our opponents, you never know.”
Shooting for a late rally, the Tanners upped their tempo on the offensive end in the third period. The positive for Peabody is that Phillips and McKelvey each scored a goal to get the Tanners back in the game. The negative is that Peabody couldn’t hold Revere from adding to its lead. Marc Giordano scored his second goal of the game in the third period and Mike Giordano sealed the deal with an empty-netter in the closing seconds for the 9-5 win.
“We kept coming back,” Leonard said. “We were down 3-1 and kept coming back. We pulled the goalie at the end and they put one in. We outshot them in the game 40-25. It shows a lot of character, being 0-19 and not giving up. I’m happy Jack scored the last goal. He hasn’t scored much so I’m glad he scored in his last game for Peabody.”
Peabody ends the season at 0-20 but Leonard saw positives with young players gaining valuable experience.
“Most of our kids return,” Leonard said. “We only have three seniors. We have six freshmen and two eighth graders so we have a young team. It was a very long year but they played hard. Being 0-19, they battled hard today and I’m proud of them.”
Revere, 9-7-4, awaits today’s state tournament pairings.
“We have to get much more disciplined,” Ciccarello said. “We have to keep playing smart hockey and safe hockey, not making any dangerous plays. We just have to keep everything simple.”
