LYNN ― Behind a three-goal outburst in the third period, the St. Mary’s boys hockey team opened up its season with a 5-2 victory over Bridgewater-Raynham Saturday night at Connery Rink.
“It was a great way to get started and I’m really proud of how the guys came out and played,” said St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee. “The guys were a little shaky in the first five minutes or so, but once they got their feet underneath them, they really started playing good hockey.”
Sophomores Jack Carpenter, a Lynnfield native, and Daniel Domeniconi, a Swampscott native, led the Spartans with one goal and one assist each. Senior Christian Iacoviello (Lynnfield), junior Brady Bullock (Lynn) and freshman Jack Hall (Saugus) each scored one goal in the win, with the latter notching his first career varsity goal. Junior Tad Giardina notched two assists, while senior Seamus Foley (Nahant), senior Eric Toto (Saugus) and freshman Joey Calder (Saugus) each had one assist. Senior goalie Owen Giangrande (Marblehead) made 19 saves to earn the victory in net.
For Lee, who says this may be the youngest team he’s ever had in his 37 years as coach of the Spartans, the way his team came out and played against a quality opponent in the first game of the season spoke volumes.
“There are 17 new names on the roster this year,” said Lee. “You never know how guys are going to react when they come out with a big crowd and a great atmosphere against a good team, but these guys really show that they know how to play hockey and they belong at the high-school level. I’m really proud of them for that.”
Bridgewater-Raynham struck first in the first period, getting a goal from Mike Dolan less than three minutes into the frame. But the Spartans didn’t waver, and they rallied back with two goals in the final nine minutes of the first period ― one each from Iacoviello and Carpenter ― to take a two to one lead into the first intermission.
But the Trojans were able to start hot in the second period as well, getting a goal courtesy of Matthew Hanlon within the first two minutes once again to knot the score up at 2-2.
The Spartans tightened things up on defense from there, holding Bridgewater-Raynham off the boards and keeping the score at 2-2 going into the final period.
That final frame belongs completely to the Spartans, who got an early goal from Domeniconi to retake the lead. From there, Bullock and Hall scored within two minutes of each other in the final seven minutes of the game to effectively seal the win for the Spartans.
“The guys really played great positional hockey all night and I think that’s really what set us up for success in the third,” said Lee. “It’s always great to get an offensive outburst like that, and when you do it against a quality team like Bridgewater-Raynham, it’s nice to see.”
St. Mary’s (1-0) will play its first Catholic Central League game of the year Wednesday night (7:10), when it travels to take on Archbishop Williams at Canton Sportsplex.
“It’s always great to get the first one under your belt, but we know we still have plenty of work to do,” said Lee. “This team might be young, but they all want to learn and they’re all really trying to get better. We’re just going to keep plugging away.”
