PEABODY — The Lynnfield boys hockey team put it all together Saturday afternoon, notching a dominating 7-1 win over Cape Ann League rival North Reading on its home ice at McVann-O’Keefe Memorial Rink. After taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, the Pioneers turned on the jets in the second period and never looked back.
“It’s always great to come out and get a big win against a rival,” said Lynnfield coach Jon Gardner. “We’ve been on the wrong side of plenty of those games (against North Reading) in my years here, so it’s nice to be on the right side this time.”
Junior Aidan Burke and sophomore Nate Alves each scored two goals in the victory, while freshman Joe Raffa had a four-point game with one goal and three assists. Juniors Tyler Scoppetuolo and Janssen Sperling each scored one goal, while senior captain Alex Buonopane and freshman Jarett Scoppetuolo each had two assists. Senior captain Brenden Henehan, senior Phil Berquist, junior Chase Carney, sophomore Nick Lucich and sophomore Lucas Cook each had one assist. Senior captain goalie Jake Debenedictis earned the win in net.
“I think that North Reading was really able to carry the play in the early part of the game until we were able to settle in,” said Gardner. “Once we did settle down, we were able to move the puck well and get a number of good scoring chances. We have plenty of talented players, so if we can keep getting scoring opportunities I have confidence that we can cash in on them.”
Sperling scored the first goal of the game to give the Pioneers the lead in this one, and Lynnfield never looked back. In the second period, two goals from Alves and another from Tyler Scoppetuolo stretched the lead to 4-0 at the second intermission before the Pioneers cruised to an easy victory in the third period. Burke scored both of his goals in the final frame, while Raffa found the back of the net once.
Lynnfield (5-3-2) has a big test coming up next against CAL power Triton Wednesday night (8:15).
“We’ve won two in a row now and we’re feeling pretty good, but we have a big test coming up in Triton and we know we have to be ready,” said Gardner. “It will be a great test for us to see where we stand at this point in the year, and hopefully we can take the momentum from our last two wins and bring it into that game.”
The Pioneers will also be fighting for seeding in the newly announced CAL conference tournament, which will take place immediately after the regular season.
“I think it’s great that we’re going to be having a tournament because it gives everyone, especially the seniors, a chance to play as many games as possible this year,” said Gardner. “We’re really looking forward to the next 10 to 14 days for sure.”
