PEABODY — The Lynnfield hockey team opened up the Division 3 tournament in style over the weekend, steamrolling its way to a 10-0 win over Northbridge in a Round of 32 game at McVann-O’Keefe Memorial Rink Saturday afternoon.
From the opening seconds to the final buzzer, the Pioneers were able to dominate both ends of the ice with their stellar offensive attack and stonewall defense. The offense was led by Will Steadman with two goals and two assists, followed by Aidan Burke’s two goals and one assist, and Tyler Scoppettuolo who also had two goals.
This performance wouldn’t have been complete without the whole team being involved though, senior captain Chase Carney led the team in assists with three, while Joe Raffa and Timmy Sulivan each had two.
“We never saw this coming in a tournament game, but the big thing was we both had big layoffs,” said Lynnfield coach Jon Gardner. “We knew with their long bus ride, we had to jump on them early and make it feel insurmountable.”
Outside of the offense for the Pioneers, their defense prowess was unrivaled. Not a single player on the ice for the Pioneers allowed Northbridge to gain any sort of momentum, as they were making sure they could barely get any shots on goal. Any shot that Northbridge was able to get on goal was denied and right back in possession of the high-powered Pioneer offense.
Another thing that allowed for the Pioneers to have such a dominating performance was their awareness on the ice. It seemed like every person whose skates hit the ice was able to tell exactly where the puck was, who the open man was and where to find their opportunities.
“This game was an all-hands-on-deck situation,” said Gardner. “Our top line with [Chase] Carney, [Aidan] Burke and [Will] Steadman, they got us going early with the starting score on the first shift. But honestly no one specifically stands out due to everyone playing their part.”
Lynnfield (17-3-1) will now move on to the Round of 16 and take on No. 13 Nauset Wednesday evening (5:15) back at McVann-O’Keefe Memorial Rink.
