LYNN — Despite holding a 29-28 advantage in shots and winning Thursday’s face-off battle, St. Mary’s boys hockey team fell to unbeaten Xaverian Brothers 4-2 at Connery Rink.
Caleb Racki (goal, assist) drove the net and scored “a beautiful goal,” according to St. Mary’s coach Matthew Smith, to tie the game 1-1. Cole Alexander (goal, assist) also scored for the Spartans on a JJ Avery rebound.
Xaverian scored its first goal with a 5-on-3 advantage before costly St. Mary’s mistakes led to three more goals from the visitors.
“We just continue to make mistakes in these big games that end up in the back of the net,” Smith said, “but we fought back.”
The Spartans fell to 3-3 ahead of Saturday’s road game against St. John’s Prep. Puck-drop is slated for 2:50 p.m. at Essex Sports Center in Middleton.
“I love this team and they work hard . . . we’ve just got to execute,” Smith said.
