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OCTOBER 14, 2021<br />

WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 9<br />

Sports<br />

COURTESY PHOTO | MATT WOOLVERTON<br />

Lynnfield native Braden Doyle is embarking on his freshman<br />

season with the Boston University hockey team.<br />

Doyle ready for<br />

freshman year<br />

with BU hockey<br />

PHOTO | SPENSER HASAK<br />

Lynnfield’s Mekhi Peters, left, and Jack Phelps wrap up Hamilton-Wenham’s Chris Domoracki<br />

during a game in Hamilton Saturday afternoon.<br />

Field position woes hurt Lynnfield<br />

in loss to Hamilton-Wenham<br />

FOOTBALL<br />

By Mike Alongi<br />

HAMILTON ― It’s hard<br />

to win a football game when<br />

you’re playing most of the<br />

game with your back against<br />

your own end zone, and the<br />

Lynnfield football team found<br />

that out the hard way Saturday<br />

afternoon in a 35-8 loss to<br />

Hamilton-Wenham in a Cape<br />

Ann League matchup.<br />

“The field position battle was<br />

heavily in Hamilton-Wenham’s<br />

favor, and they were able to take<br />

advantage of that all day,” said<br />

Lynnfield coach Pat Lamusta.<br />

“We made some mistakes on<br />

special teams and we just can’t<br />

do that. We need to work on that<br />

phase of the game so we’re not<br />

playing from behind the eight<br />

ball on every drive.”<br />

While the offensive side of the<br />

ball didn’t have many highlights<br />

for Lynnfield, the Pioneers’ defense<br />

saw some strong play<br />

from Nick Marcinowski (seven<br />

tackles, one tackle for loss) and<br />

Spencer Riley (seven tackles).<br />

After a slow start to the game<br />

with both teams exchanging<br />

punts, Hamilton-Wenham got<br />

itself into a great field position<br />

after pinning Lynnfield<br />

deep in its own zone. When<br />

the Generals took over on the<br />

Pioneers’ 25-yard line, it only<br />

took a few plays for running<br />

back Chris Domoracki to break<br />

free for a 10-yard touchdown to<br />

put Hamilton-Wenham on top<br />

7-0.<br />

The next Lynnfield offensive<br />

drive was much of the same,<br />

with the Pioneers pinned deep<br />

at their own five-yard line. A<br />

three-and-out forced another<br />

punt, and Hamilton-Wenham<br />

once again took over at<br />

Lynnfield’s 25. And once again,<br />

it only took Hamilton-Wenham<br />

a few plays to find the end zone<br />

― with Domoracki once again<br />

punching it in from a few yards<br />

out.<br />

On the ensuing possession<br />

for Lynnfield, quarterback<br />

Nick Razzaboni attempted a<br />

screen pass but it was cut off by<br />

Generals defensive back Zenas<br />

Zhao, who grabbed the interception<br />

and took it back all the<br />

way for a touchdown to make it<br />

21-0.<br />

Things didn’t get any better<br />

for Lynnfield from there, as<br />

the Pioneers had a Hamilton-<br />

Wenham punt bounce off a<br />

player and get recovered by<br />

the Generals. Then, Hamilton-<br />

Wenham quarterback John Ertel<br />

connected with receiver Markus<br />

Nordin ― who made a highlight-reel<br />

catch ― for a 42-yard<br />

touchdown to put the Generals<br />

ahead 28-0.<br />

And even when the Pioneers<br />

were able to punch it deep into<br />

Hamilton-Wenham territory<br />

― like in the final seconds of<br />

the first half when they got inside<br />

the five-yard line ― things<br />

didn’t go right. Lynnfield had a<br />

second-and-goal from the oneyard<br />

line with 15 seconds left,<br />

and Hamilton-Wenham stuffed<br />

the Pioneers on three straight<br />

plays to bring the 28-0 lead into<br />

halftime.<br />

Domoracki added his third<br />

rushing touchdown of the<br />

day for the Generals midway<br />

through the third quarter to<br />

round out the scoring for<br />

Hamilton-Wenham.<br />

It took all the way until the<br />

final two minutes of play for<br />

Lynnfield to get on the scoreboard,<br />

with receiver Brian Ellis<br />

making a leaping touchdown<br />

catch from quarterback David<br />

Tracy with 1:29 remaining to<br />

make it a 35-8 game.<br />

Lynnfield (2-2) returns home<br />

Friday (6:30) for its Senior<br />

Night game against Pentucket.<br />

“This senior class has had a<br />

unique career, and they hold a<br />

really special place in my heart<br />

because they’re the first group<br />

of incoming freshmen I had as a<br />

head coach here,” said Lamusta.<br />

“It’s a great group of players<br />

and a great group of men, and<br />

it will be really special to celebrate<br />

them on Friday.”<br />

By Sam Minton<br />

LYNNFIELD ― Braden<br />

Doyle has been playing hockey<br />

his entire life, but this year the<br />

Lynnfield native will start a new<br />

journey.<br />

Doyle is entering his freshman<br />

year at Boston University,<br />

where he will continue his<br />

hockey career. The 20-year-old<br />

defenseman is excited to get his<br />

first season with the Terriers off<br />

and running.<br />

“This is what I worked hard<br />

for and I’m just so happy to be<br />

here finally,” said Doyle, who<br />

spent the previous three seasons<br />

with the Dubuque Fighting<br />

Saints of the United States<br />

Hockey League. “It’s been a<br />

lot of fun meeting the guys.<br />

The pace of hockey is so much<br />

better and I’m just having a lot<br />

of fun here.”<br />

Doyle has been playing<br />

hockey since he was four years<br />

old. His father played collegiate<br />

hockey for Merrimack College,<br />

and the 20-year-old credits his<br />

father as being a huge influence<br />

on him.<br />

At the age of seven, Doyle<br />

and his family moved to<br />

Lynnfield. He loves that he is<br />

able to be close to Boston ― especially<br />

after being in Iowa for<br />

the last three years.<br />

“It was a great community,”<br />

Doyle said. “I have a bunch of<br />

family in Lynnfield, a bunch<br />

of friends and they are all really<br />

excited to come watch me<br />

play and I’m excited to play for<br />

them.”<br />

Doyle has traveled near and<br />

far to play the game he loves.<br />

He played three high school<br />

seasons at Lawrence Academy,<br />

where he amassed 14 goals<br />

and 57 assists. He then made<br />

the move to Dubuque and the<br />

USHL ― the top junior hockey<br />

league in the United States ―<br />

in 2018 and spent three seasons<br />

with the Fighting Saints.<br />

In the 2021 season, he tallied<br />

five goals and 19 assists in 51<br />

games.<br />

Doyle is excited to get his<br />

college career started and play<br />

in a faster game that he feels<br />

suits his style of play.<br />

As a freshman, expectations<br />

are low for the Lynnfield native<br />

but he hopes to earn the trust<br />

of head coach Albie O’Connell<br />

and his staff.<br />

“I just have to earn my ice<br />

time and take what is given to<br />

me and capitalize on the opportunities<br />

and I’m excited to work<br />

hard for that,” Doyle said.<br />

Even before his college career<br />

started, Doyle had accomplished<br />

the dreams of every<br />

hockey player. In the sixth<br />

round of the 2019 NHL Draft,<br />

the Los Angeles Kings called<br />

his name.<br />

Doyle said that he has been<br />

able to participate in developmental<br />

camps with the Kings<br />

and is looking forward to<br />

starting his NHL career relatively<br />

soon. Doyle credited<br />

the Kings developmental staff,<br />

which has continued to work on<br />

his game while he is in school.<br />

“They said whenever I need,<br />

we can watch some video together,”<br />

said Doyle. “It’s definitely<br />

a good resource to use.”<br />

While Doyle has been successful<br />

in the offensive zone,<br />

he said in his freshman year he<br />

hopes to become a more complete<br />

player.<br />

“I’ve always been pretty<br />

good offensively and I’m just<br />

trying to get more trust from the<br />

coaches back in the defensive<br />

end,” said Doyle. “I’ve been<br />

working really hard learning<br />

defensive zone position, gap<br />

control, and I think it’s paying<br />

off.”<br />

Boston University has started<br />

its season off with a 1-1 record<br />

and faces Sacred Heart Friday.

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