PEABODY — When you get a St. Mary’s (3-1) and Bishop Fenwick (0-3) hockey game, you’re guaranteed a hostile environment.
In the first meeting between traditional rivals this season, the visiting Spartans returned home with bragging rights in a 3-0 final at McVann-O’Keefe Rink.
Heads up – the first period came with hit after hit.
Through the pressure, the Crusaders came out strong, keeping St. Mary’s in its own zone, but couldn’t capitalize on the shots they created.
The best chance for Fenwick came with 6:45 remaining in the first period. Chris Ferlito skated past a Spartan to set up a two-on-one. Ferlito split the defense with a pin-point pass to Joey LeBrun, but LeBrun couldn’t retrieve the puck from underneath his stick.
The game was scoreless heading into the first intermission, but it all changed in period number two.
Just 3:18 into the period, captain Cam McGonagle was in the right place at the right time and slotted the puck past Fenwick’s goaltender to open the scoring (1-0).
A few minutes later, St. Mary’s doubled its lead, this time through senior Marc Hilton Jr. His snipe hit the water bottle inside of the net to make it 2-0.
The score remained that way for the remainder of the second period.
Into the third they went, and Hilton wasn’t done, scoring an unassisted goal three minutes into the period to seal it.
St. Mary’s outshot Fenwick 40-11 to earn its third win of the season. The physicality also never went away, as the two sides combined for nine penalties.
Sophomore goalie Matthew Smith Jr. didn’t face many shots, but made key saves in the first period to keep the Spartans in the game until the offense started to click. It was his first shut out of his career.
Fenwick will look to get its first win of the season Saturday at 6 p.m. when it hosts Chelmsford. The Spartans hope to continue their winning ways the same day when they head back home to Connery Rink to take on Winchester at 4 p.m.
