PEABODY — The No. 3 Lynnfield boys hockey team played a strong all-around game on its home ice Monday afternoon, notching a 3-0 win over No. 6 Hamilton-Wenham in the quarterfinal round of the Cape Ann League Tournament at McVann-O’Keefe Memorial Rink.
“At this point in the year it’s all about getting the job done, and that’s what we were able to do (Monday),” said Lynnfield coach Jon Gardner. “We got off to a good start, we had timely scoring and we got a great goaltending performance. It was a great game for us.”
Senior captain Alex Buonopane, junior Chase Carney and junior Patrick Barrett each scored one goal in the win, with Barrett notching his first career varsity goal. Junior Aidan Burke added two assists in the win, while sophomore Drew Damiani had one assist.
In net, freshman Nick Hubbard got the start and showed up to play. Hubbard made 20 saves to earn the shutout victory, including an 11-save second period.
“You’re honestly shocked when someone scores on him at this point because that’s just the kind of year he’s been having,” Gardner said of Hubbard. “He just doesn’t like to get scored on, no matter what. Take the fact that he’s a freshman out of it, the guy is just a competitor.”
One of the keys to Lynnfield’s win was its special teams play, as the Pioneers notched one powerplay goal and killed off three penalties during the course of the game.
“Special teams have been a big talking point for us and it’s an important part of the game in the playoffs,” said Gardner. “We’ve had a bunch of occasions this year where we couldn’t put both sides of it together, so to be able to capitalize on the powerplay and then kill off a few powerplays was good to see.”
The Pioneers were able to get off to a hot start thanks in part to earning a powerplay opportunity in the opening two minutes of the game that they cashed in on right away. Burke found Damiani just inside the blue line, and Damiani’s shot was tipped in front of the net by Buonopane to put Lynnfield up 1-0.
After killing off a penalty a few minutes later, Lynnfield found the back of the net once again when Carney picked up a loose puck and scored an unassisted goal to make it 2-0.
Despite getting completely outplayed in the second period, the Pioneers were able to stand tall and not allow any goals thanks to Hubbard’s strong play. Then, with just seven seconds left in the period, Barrett scored on a shot from the blue line to make it 3-0 Lynnfield.
The Pioneers killed off one more penalty in the third period before cruising to a victory.
Lynnfield (6-4-3) moves on to face No. 2 Newburyport in the CAL Tournament semifinal Wednesday night (7) at Henry Graf Rink in Newburyport. The two teams have met two previous times this season, with Newburyport winning both games.
“We’re going with the whole ‘it’s tough to beat a team three times in a season’ mindset,” said Gardner. “We know that they’re a tough team to play against, especially in that rink, so we’re just going to try to carry over this momentum and bring our best game on Wednesday.”
