Lynnfield 1-18-18

JANUARY 18, 2018 WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 9
Sports
Last-second goal lift Pioneers to a tie
By Anne Marie Tobin
PEABODY — The Lynnfield Pioneers
boys hockey team saved its best for last
Saturday at McVann-O’Keefe Rink - as in,
literally, the last second in a wild and crazy
ending.
Trailing 2-1, and skating with a 6-on-3
advantage after pulling goaltender Aidan
Kelly, with about 11 seconds to go, senior
captain Cooper Marengi won a faceoff
in the left circle. George DeRoche took
a shot and it was deflected to junior Will
Garofoli, who threaded the needle from
behind the net to senior captain Joey Mack
camped on the right side of the crease.
Mack fired a bullet into the back of the
net, top shelf, to not only beat Triton goaltender
Ben Fougere, but beat the clock by
a mere second to salvage a 2-2 tie.
A wild celebration ensued while the two
officials briefly conferred, then confirmed,
that the goal was good.
“We’ll take that point any day,” said
Lynnfield coach Jon Gardner. “I think
they (the Vikings) definitely felt they left
a lot out there, especially with Aidan Kelly
coming up with some big and key saves for
us, but I felt that we did, too, as we had
a ton of chances that we couldn’t finish.
Overall, other than the first period, I felt
we had more than enough chances to win
the game, but we’ll take the tie considering
the circumstances.”
Mack said he knew time was short.
“I looked at the clock and there four seconds
left,” he said. “Will Garofoli gets it in
the corner and backhands it back to me near
the faceoff circle and I didn’t even look I
just knew I had to get a shot off. I think it
might have deflected off their players.”
The Pioneers got off to a slow start and
played sluggishly throughout most of the
first period, allowing Triton to dominate
pace and possession. Kelly, however, was
more than up to the task to keep Triton off
the board With about five minutes to play,
he made his biggest save, robbing Triton
defenseman Tyler Godfrey who had fired a
laser from the point into traffic.
With under a minute to go in the period,
Marengi went down in a heap on the
boards. Triton’s Joe Conte was flagged for
holding, giving the Pioneers a power play
for the rest of the period and another 1:39
at the start of the second, but could not
break through.
FILE PHOTO
Will Garofoli had an assist on the game-tying goal Saturday in Lynnfield’s tie with Triton.
The action picked up in the second period
with both teams going back and forth.
At even strength with under six minutes
to play, Marengi won a faceoff and dished
to a wide-open Jack Hammersley, a junior,
but his shot was off the mark, Triton countered
with a full ice rush by Godfrey, but
he was again robbed by Kelly. Lynnfield
came right back up the ice. Hammersley
slipped the puck back to junior assistant
captain Jaret Simpson on the left point.
He fired off a slapshot that got loose in the
crease, but Marengi’s attempts to poke it
home were denied by Fougere, who covered
up the puck in heavy traffic.
Lynnfield finally broke the ice with 3:43
to go on a goal by DeRoche with assists
going to senior captain Tyler Murphy and
junior Mike Caruso to tie things up at 1-1.
With under three minutes in the period,
Triton amped up the attack and put the
pressure on Kelly. Godfrey had two good
chances snuffed out by Kelly, then Conte
was denied by a heavily screened Kelly on
a shot from the left point. After Lynnfield
cleared the puck out of the zone, Triton
dumped it back in where Kelly covered
up to force a faceoff from the left circle.
Triton’s Connor Kohan won it, then walked
in and found Kyle McKendry. His shot
was saved, but the rebound popped out to
Josh D’Arcy who slipped it past Kelly to
give Triton a 1-0 lead at the 13:12 mark.
The third period got chippy on both
sides with both teams getting burned by
penalties.
Lynnfield could do no damage, however,
on a power play about five and a half
minutes into the period.
With 5:09 to play, Marengi was sent to
the box for cross-checking, where he was
joined a little more than a minute later by
Simpson (elbowing), giving the Vikings
a 5-on-3 advantage for 48 seconds. They
needed just 36 seconds to cash in to regain
the lead. Senior assistant captain Nekoroski
took one for the team, blocking a shot by
Godfrey. The puck ended up on the stick
of Brady Lyndholm, partially open in the
slot on the right side. Lyndholm threaded
the needle to Sam Rennick camped just
outside the crease on the left, who redirected
the puck home to put Triton back on
top, 2-1. Time of the goal was 11:48.
After that, things got interesting.
With 2:51 to go, Conte was sent to the
penalty box. With 1:12 to go, matching
penalties were assessed to each team, and
Gardner pulled Kelly to take advantage of
a 6-on-4 man up edge.
That edge turned into a 6-on-3 opportunity
when Conte received double minors
for cross-checking and slashing at 14:21,
giving the Pioneers a 3-man edge for the
remaining 39 seconds of the game.
With Marengi, Mack, Garofoli,
DeRoche, Murphy, and Robbie Brandano
on the ice, the Pioneers survived an anxious
few seconds when Triton’s Matt
Duncan cleared the puck the length of the
ice, missing the open net by a couple of
feet.
The Pioneers worked the puck back into
the offensive zone with under 20 seconds
to go. Garofoli spied Mack and put the
puck right on his stick for the equalizer to
stun the Vikings — and steal a point.
“We left our game in the locker room
and had zero intensity, and quite honestly,
were beyond flat in that first period, they
started listening to us in the last two periods,”
said Gardner.
“That was a bang-bang play and we did
get the benefit of a couple of really undisciplined
penalties on their part in the third
period. It was a tough decision on pulling
the goalie because you don’t want to give
away your chance for a point and sometimes
that many skaters can crowd things,
but they didn’t pack it in like I thought they
would, and that left both guys (Marengi
and Mack) open.
Gardner commended the play of junior
Chris Flannery, Nekoroski and Garofoli.
“They were really buzzing around especially
in the last two periods, so that helped
everyone pick up their games.”
Wrestlers take two matches during quad meet
By Anne Marie Tobin
The Lynnfield/North Reading wrestling team picked up
two wins in a quad meet Saturday at North Reading High
to finish the week 2-2.
The Black and Gold defeated Salem, 18-12, then lost
to defending Division 3 state champion Melrose, 46-30,
in the middle match. LNR rallied to defeat Essex Tech
54-24 in the final match. Sophomore Stuart Glover (120
pounds), Josh Bedell (126 pounds), and senior captains
Anthony Wilkinson (170 pounds) and Kevin Farrelly
(195 pounds) were perfect on the day, winning all three
of their matches.
Against Salem, the Witches filled only five of the 14
weight classes, three of which were won by the Black
and Gold in matches that lasted a combined 2:35 on the
mat. Glover picked up LNR’s first win with a pin in 1:43.
Bedell took the next match in only 32 seconds, while senior
captain Andrew DiPietro (152 pounds) capped the
scoring for the Black and Gold with another quick win by
pin, this one in only 21 seconds.
Against Melrose, the Black and Gold got off to a great
start and held a 18-6 lead after the first four matches.
Glover, once again, picked up LNR’s first win in a forfeit,
while Bedell followed with a 35-second pin and Chris
Metrano (126 pounds) also had a first period win by pin
in 1:28.
Wilkinson had the most impressive win, pinning returning
sectional place finisher Cam Rosie in 1:23.
Farrelly capped the match with a win by pin in 3:22.
In the Essex Tech match, the Black and Gold won nine
of 14 weight classes and led from start to finish. The
match began at 120 pounds with Glover’s third win of the
day (1:26). DiPietro picked up his second win with a win
by pin in 1:59, while Wilkinson wrestled up a class at 182
pounds and capped his perfect day with a win by pin in
1:45. Farrelly won his second match with a win by pin in
1:28. Sean McCullough (195 pounds) and Christian Real-
Costa won their first matches of the day, both by pins, with
McCullough winning his match in 1:45 and Real-Costa
winning his match in 1:08. Bedell, Nik Marotta (160
pounds) and Dan Ryan (170 pounds) won their matches
in forfeits.
LNR’s dual meet record improved to 5-11-1.
“It’s been frustrating at times this season, but we are
hanging in, supporting each other, and pushing each other
to be the best we can be,” said LNR coach Craig Stone.
“The attitude has been great, and there is plenty of enthusiasm,
two important variables that transcend wins and
loses.”
Burlington 53, LNR 30
On Jan. 10, the Black and Gold hit the road and struggled
in the lower weight classes, which has been one of the
team’s strengths this season. LNR won just two matches
on the mats with DiPietro picking a win by pin in 2:39 and
Wilkinson, back at 170 pounds, won in 1:57. McCullough
(182 pounds), Greg Camier (285 pounds) and Metrano
(132 pounds) won their matches by forfeit.
“We did not match up well in the lower weights,” said
Stone. “Also, Burlington returned four starters while LNR
had four first-year wrestlers.”
LNR’s next match is tomorrow night against
Northeastern Conference foe Peabody at home (6:30).