LYNN— When you’re a powerhouse team like St. Mary’s, you’re always going to get the best effort an upset-minded opponent has to offer.
The Lowell Catholic boys hockey team brought forth a valiant effort Saturday at William P. Connery Rink but the Spartans iced a 2-0 senior day victory with an empty-netter in the third period.
“Lowell Catholic came and they battled,” St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee said. “We beat them 6-0 the first time and today was 2-0. It was a very competitive game. We controlled the play, we worked very hard and we were disciplined. That’s what sealed it for us.”
The shorthanded Spartans, down three starting forwards, dictated the tempo of the game from beginning to end. But it was one of those nights where they simply struggled to put the puck in the net.
“We were really lucky to win,” Lee said. “We outshot them 38-12. I was concerned because they weren’t going in. I felt we dominated from start to finish, we just couldn’t find the back of the net. That’s what we’ve been dealing with lately but we found a way. We were missing three starting forwards. Davis Kinne, Kory Ouellette and Luke Sargent helped fill some holes.
“I’m very proud of them,” Lee said. “This could’ve been a bit of a trap game, getting off a loss to B.C. High. Lowell Catholic’s a good team. They’re very well coached.”
Owen Maguire put the Spartans on the board in the second period and senior co-captain Colin Reddy sealed the deal in the closing minutes. Alex Nazarian logged one assist.
Spartans goalie Joe Purtell made 12 assists. It wasn’t a busy night in net for Purtell but the junior netminder, who earned his fourth shutout of the season, made key saves in crucial moments.
“In a tight game like that, Joe really made some big stops for us when it counted,” Lee said.
The Crusaders kept pace with the Spartans through a scoreless opening period. St. Mary’s generated a bundle of quality looks at the net in the second period and the efforts paid dividends when Maguire (assist to Nazarian) lit the lamp with 11:52 on the clock. Crusaders goalie Colin Gleason made an initial save but Maguire scooped the rebound and found the back of the net to give his Spartans a 1-0 lead they never relinquished. That’s where it stayed at the second intermission.
St. Mary’s was whistled for two penalties in the third period (with 8:42 and 1:50 left in the game). Chasing a goal, Lowell Catholic pulled its goalie to get a 6-on-4 advantage. But Redd’s empty-netter with 41.9 seconds remaining dashed any hopes of Lowell Catholic crawling back in and finished the 2-0 win.
The Spartans (15-5) close the regular season with a pair of non-conference games in the Cardinal Classic at Olympia Ice Center in Springfield. They’re back on the ice Wednesday night (6) when they take on Central Catholic.
“We’ll go out to Springfield to play against Super 8 competition,” Lee said. “We’ll really find out who we are. Hopefully we’ll get a little healthier, get a couple players back and we’ll see what happens.”
St. Mary’s held a pregame ceremony Saturday to honor the five seniors on its roster. The seniors are Reddy, Nicholas Napolitano, Damon Maribito, Kyle Ouellette and Jared Coppola.
“I’m happy for the seniors leaving with a win,” Lee said. “They’re five great seniors. They’ve had great careers. It was nice to see Colin score that second goal. Colin has been such an important part of it. For him to end it with a goal with less than a minute to go was nice. I’m looking forward to the remainder of the season. It’s a great group.”
