LYNN — They say 3-1 is the worst lead in hockey, but not according to Brady Bullock of St. Mary’s.
Wednesday’s scene at Connery Rink was set, and the captain didn’t disappoint. Despite Arlington Catholic (1-3) scoring two goals in the third period to tie the game 3-3, Bullock scored on a rebound in overtime to keep St. Mary’s (7-0-1) undefeated with a 4-3 win.
Bullock said he saw his linemate Aidan Fitzpatrick with his back towards the net and pivoting, knowing he was going to put the puck on net. Fitzpatrick did just that, and Bullock did the rest.
“[I] got to the net with my stick down. It just came right to me and I put it in,” Bullock, a Lynn native, said.
St. Mary’s head coach Mark Lee said Bullock has come through all season, and expects his production to continue.
“It’s great to have a player like Brady [Bullock],” Lee said. “He’s so good around the net and it’s no secret, everyone knows that.”
Bullock also scored in the final minute of the second period, calling for the puck at center-ice and freeing himself for a breakaway. The lefty put the puck in the top-right corner of the net to put St. Mary’s up 3-1.
“They [Spartans] just have some really talented players,” Arlington Catholic head coach Curt Colarullo said. “That third goal they scored in the second period was just a great individual effort from a kid [Bullock] who’s got a lot of speed.”
Despite the win, it wasn’t always pretty. With heavy frustration coming from St. Mary’s bench, the Spartans blew their two-goal lead in the third. Arlington Catholic scored two goals in just over one minute and it was a brand new game with 4:42 remaining in the third.
Lee said his team needed to focus on the “little things.”
“We weren’t stopping on pucks, we weren’t taking lanes away on the defensive-zone. All the little things, the one-on-one battles, the things that win games,” Lee said. “We really didn’t have a very good game for us.”
Breaths were held in an overtime nail-biter, but St. Mary’s escaped victorious with Bullock leading by example.
“We hold ourselves to a very high standard,” Bullock said. “We really all just look at each other and say ‘don’t let them come in here and beat us in our home rink.’”
Caleb Racki and Fitzpatrick scored the other two St. Mary’s goals. Racki received a pass from Cam McGonagle and scored in the first minute of the game, and Fitzpatrick scored in the second period from behind the goal line.
Thomas Driscoll, Stephen Constantine, and Ryan Noonan all scored for Arlington Catholic. Colarullo said it was a frustrating game to lose, and gives credit to the Spartans.
“For us to be able to skate with them as long as we did, it gives us a little confidence going into the New Year,” Colarullo said.
It’s hockey night in Lynn on Saturday. The Spartans return to Connery Rink against Bishop Feehan with puck-drop set for 7:30 p.m.
