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WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 MARCH 7, 2019
PHOTO | ALICIA GOMES
The Masconomet/Lynnfield gymnastics team displays its state championship
banner.
Gymnasts give school
a state championship
By Anne Marie Tobin
While the student-athletes on the Lynnfield
girls basketball team are still alive
and fighting for a state title, three other
Lynnfield High student-athletes beat
them to it and became the first Lynnfield
students to earn state championship bragging
rights since the girls tennis team won
a Division 3 state title in 2014.
Sophomore Makayla Greene and
freshmen Lanah Rosenwald and Amber
Gamache attained the dream of a lifetime
this past Saturday at Algonquin Regional
High School in Northborough as the
Masconomet/Lynnfield girls gymnastics
team made history, winning the first state
championship in program history, thanks
to a clutch performance in the final rotation
of the night.
The Chieftains finished with 148.975
points while Mansfield was second with
146.650 points and Newton South was
third with 146.575 points. By virtue of
their top-three finishes, all three teams
qualified for the March 9 New England
Championship meet (TBA).
The meet was a three-way race with
Masco held a slight lead going into the
floor exercise, but Mansfield amped up
the pressure and closed the gap with a
38.75 performance on the beam.
The Chieftains answered right back by
posting the top-two scores in the floor exercise
to seal the victory. Gracy Mowers
(9.60) and Katelyn Aylwin (9.50) finished
one-two, and the celebration was on.
Mowers, the 2018 all-around champion,
won the vault with a score of 9.825
and finished second in the all-around this
year with 37.60 points behind Alqonquin’s
Elizabeth Debroczy, who won
with 37.850 points.
Masco tuned up for the state meet with
a win last weekend at the North sectional
championship meet. The win was the first
sectional title in 10 years for the Chieftains,
who were led by Aylwin (38.475)
and Mowers (38.350) one-two- finish in
the all-around.
McCullough ends
with a flourish
By Anne Marie Tobin
PROVIDENCE — Lynnfield/North
Reading wrestler Sean McCullough’s magical
season wound to a close Saturday at the
55th Annual New England Interscholastic
Wrestling Championships at Providence
Career and Technical Academy.
The junior captain won his first two
matches to advance to the quarterfinals of
the 182-pound weight division. That’s the
good news.
The bad news is his next round opponent
was only Abraham Spurlock of Brookline
High.
Spurlock, the Division 1 Central Division,
State Division 1 and All-States champion,
led 4-0 midway through the second period,
then polished off the match with a pin win
in 2:51.
“To go 2-2 at the New England Tournament,
where everyone seems to be a state
champion or runner-up, is an incredible
accomplishment,” said Lynnfield/North
Reading coach Craig Stone. “Obviously, he
would have liked to place, but considering
how far he has come from last year, everything
looks very positive going forward and
he will use this experience as motivation for
next season.”
McCullough took on New Hampshire
state runner-up Zack Brickner (Hollis-
Brookline) in the consolation quarterfinals
and came up on the wrong end of an 18-3
major decision.
McCullough opened the tournament with
a pin win (3:33) over Connecticut’s Jack
Cronin (Nonnewaug High) in the Round
of 32. McCullough trailed 10-8 in the backand-forth
bout before putting Cronin away
in the second period. Cronin was the 2019
Connecticut state runner-up.
In the Round of 16, he took on another
New England state runner-up in Maine’s
Cameron Bourget (Lisbon Falls/Oa Hill).
He was solid from start to finish en route to
a 12-4 decision over Bourget.
McCullough finished the season with a
46-9 overall record and now has 102 career
wins. He won the North Division 2 sectional
and Cohasset Invitational tournaments, was
second at the Pentucket Holiday tournament
and Cape Ann League/Northeastern
Conference Championship meet; third at
the Wakefield Lisitano Memorial tournament;
and finally placed second in the
Division 2 state tournament and seventh in
the All-State tournament.
FILE PHOTO
Sean McCullough made the quarterfinals of the New England wrestling championships
in Rhode Island.
Pioneer hockey team ousted in overtime
By Anne Marie Tobin
BILLERICA — When it comes to heartbreaking
defeat, the Lynnfield boys hockey team has cornered the
market.
For the third time in four years, the Pioneers hopes for a
Division 2 North championship went up in smoke, walk-off
style, in the opening round. Feb. 26 at Chelmsford Forum,
it was the No. 7 Tewksbury Redmen who played the role
of spoiler, defeating the No. 10 Pioneers in overtime, 2-1.
Lynnfield coach Jon Gardner said the Pioneers had their
chances.
“We took over a period to get going, but we had that
breakaway in the first that they needed to convert but
didn’t,” said Gardner. “We had a great power play (in the
third) that the puck almost trickled in that laid in the crease
and we couldn’t bang it in and we had a solid third period.”
Pioneer goaltender Aidan Kelly, delivered a performance
for the ages. He was under assault for nearly the entire
game, but stood on his head, making one spectacular save
after another to keep the Pioneers in the game. Until overtime,
that is.
And it all happened so fast.
With two minutes left in the four-on-four session, George
DeRoche and John Simonetti rushed into the offensive
zone on a two-on-one. Tewksbury defenseman Michael
Arsenault leveled DeRoche with a cross-check, then rushed
the offensive zone where he blasted a blistering wrist shot
inside the far post, to punch Tewksbury’s ticket to the
quarterfinals.
For most of the first two periods, the Redmen kept the
Pioneers pinned in their defensive zone, but Kelly was up to
the task to keep it scoreless through two.
“I don’t know how many shots they had but it had to me
in the 30’s,” said Gardner. “Aidan was just amazing.”
The last period was full of back-and-forth action with
both teams flying up and down the ice.
Lynnfield caught its first real break of the game when
Tewksbury took a charging penalty with 11 seconds left in
the second period.
With a man-up advantage, Lynnfield came out energized
at the start of the third period and peppered Tewksbury
goalie Pat Letourneau with several shots. Jaret Simpson
started the barrage with a blast from the left point, that sent
Letourneau scrambling. DeRoche picked up the rebound
and tried to poke it home, but was denied.
Ronnie Fuccillo rifled a wrist shot from the right point
just wide. The puck popped back to Simpson in the middle,
whose shot was saved. The rebound was loose in front dangling
inches from the goal line where Will Garofoli had a
couple of swipes at it with Letourneau sprawled on the ice,
but could not poke it home.
Tewksbury killed of the rest of the penalty before Garofoli
had another chance but couldn’t convert.
“That penalty sparked us but we just couldn’t create
shooting a shooting lane,” said Gardner.
Tewksbury countered. Will O’Keefe unleashed a wrister
from the left face off circle to put the Redmen on top, 1-0,
with 11:30 left.
A minute later, DeRoche was robbed on a wrap-around
attempt. Thirty seconds later, Kelly returned the favor with
a spectacular save of his own.
On the counterattack, junior forward John Simonetti and
Garofoli broke into the offensive zone in chase of a loose
puck, but lost a foot race to the puck to Letourneau, who
dove, head first to poke the puck away. The puck bounced
back to Simonetti in the slot, who had an empty net with
Letourneau down and out, but misfired wide. Two faceoffs
later, Simonetti won the draw and played the puck
to DeRoche, who drilled a wrist shot home with 7:54 left
in regulation.
The defeat marked the second straight year in which the
Pioneers lost a last-second thriller. Last year, the Pioneers
were stunned by Wilmington, which scored the game-winning
goal with only 3.4 seconds left in regulation to win 2-1.
“This was not as tough as last year’s loss when it was a
50-50 game,” said Gardner. “This one they came out right
away and blitzkrieged us. I say we didn’t start on time as
we were sleepwalking through the first 20 minutes. We had
a breakaway that we should have cashed in on. I”m all for
swallowing the whistle but there were a couple that should
have been called like when they had seven men on the ice
in the third period.”
Gardner highlighted the entire defensive unit including
Jeff Floramo, Danny Mack and Leo Quinn.
“Our defense blocked a ton of shots tonight and the kids
played tough,” Gardner said.