St. Mary’s boys hockey team in Division 1A

By Steve Krause / The Daily Item

The St. Mary’s boys hockey team has climbed another rung in its mission to join the hockey elite in Massachusetts.

The Spartans, who were a Division 3 program a little over a decade ago, have been selected as one of the 10 teams in the MIAA Division 1A (or Super 8) hockey tournament, which begins Monday.

The Spartans drew the ninth seed out of 10 invitees, which means they will play a preliminary round game (or play-in) Monday at the Chelmsford Forum at 8 p.m. against eighth-seeded Central Catholic.

Should the Spartans win, they will proceed into the Super 8 tournament. Should they lose, they would drop down to the Division 1 North category and participate in that sectional.

Malden Catholic, whose premiere player, Mike Vecchione, comes from Saugus, is the top seed in Division 1A. St. John’s Prep of Danvers is right behind at No. 2.

The rest of the field, in order is as follows: Weymouth, Hingham, Needham, Woburn, Central Catholic, St. Mary’s, Springfield Cathedral.

Once the play-ins are settled, the tournament becomes a round-robin series with two pools for four teams each.

Pool A will consist of Malden Catholic, Weymouth, Hingham and the Central/St. Mary’s winner. Pool B consists of St. John’s, BC High, Needham and Woburn/Springfield.

The MIAA is doing the pairings for the entire hockey tournament today. Stay tuned to itemlive.com for further developments.

Newburyport Tournament

Mark Lee St. Mary's closes out regular season with Newburyport tourney title By Matthew Roy / For The Item NEWBURYPORT - The St. Mary's hockey team has done everything possible to earn its first trip to the Super Eight tournament this season. Now all the Spartans can do is wait to find out their fate this morning when the selection committee meets in Franklin. On Friday, St. Mary's completed a dominating performance in the Bresnahan Division of the Newburyport Bank Classic at Graf Rink. The Spartans rolled past Newburyport, 5-1, on the back of two goals from Bucky Surette and a four assist game from Cam Kennedy. After the game, Spartan coach Mark Lee was confident his team had done enough to warrant a trip to the Division 1A tourney. "I believe that we belong there. But I don't have a vote," Lee said jokingly. "What a great year this has been with a great group of players." The Clippers (12-4-4) had been St. Mary's (13-5-3) nemesis recently in the tournament. That wasn't to be the case on Friday as the Spartans had a 26-12 shots on goal advantage and kept a potent Newburyport offense at bay most of the way. "St. Mary's is a very good team," Newburyport coach Paul Yameen said. "I was happy with our effort and we can take a lot of positives out of a game like this." The Spartans controlled the play most of the first period but the game was scoreless until 4:23 was left when Surette took a Kennedy pass and snapped a shot over Alex Buckley's shoulder. Less than two minutes later, Julian Yourawski went hard to the net and jammed home the rebound of a Kennedy slap shot to send St. Mary's to the first intermission up 2-0. The physical play picked up in the second period with bodies flying into the glass on both sides with regularity. The Spartans extended their lead to 3-0 just past the midpoint of the second as Tommy Braswell roofed a James Perkins pass at 8:31. Just over a minute later, Surette picked up his second of the night, assisted by Andrew Dimaiti and Kennedy, for a 4-0 lead. The Clippers didn't go away as David Cusack scored only his second goal of the season 39 seconds later and the team's headed to the second intermission with St. Mary's up 4-1. "It wasn't perfect at times (Friday) but our effort was great," Lee said. "Newburyport is a good team that they've always given us good games." Perkins would close out the scoring at 1:52 of the third with a power play goal, assisted by Braswell. "We had some opportunities early but didn't take advantage of them," Yameen said. "St. Mary's has a great program and we will be rooting for them to make the Super Eight."

Item article: St. Mary's vs. Weymouth

St. Mary's boys hockey drops close one to Weymouth

By Matthew Roy / For The Item

LYNN - In its quest to make the Super Eight for the first time in program history, St. Mary's came to Connery Rink on Saturday with a chance to make a big statement against Weymouth.

The Wildcats were considered by most to be a lock for the 1A tournament when the pairings are announced this Saturday ... but it was the Spartans who breezed to a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes last Saturday. Weymouth, though, showed its big game experience and fought back to take a 4-3 win thanks to a pair of third period goals from Trevor King.

"That is certainly one of the top three teams in Division 1 and my kids left everything they had out there," St. Mary's coach Mark Lee said. "That was a great high school hockey game between two great teams."

Having already faced the gauntlet of Malden Catholic on Monday and Springfield Cathedral on Wednesday, the Spartans didn't show any sign of exhaustion at the start as they took the play to Weymouth in the first period.

It didn't take long for St. Mary's to jump in front as sharp play around the net from Derek Stella resulted in his banging home a rebound at 4:07 for a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later, the lead doubled off a faceoff in the Wildcats zone.

Bobby Mullins won the draw cleanly back to Cam Kennedy at the left point for a slap shot that sailed past a screened Brian Brady.

"I thought that we came out and played exactly how we wanted to in the first period," Lee said.

Late in the period, Brady made a play that seemed inconsequential at the time but it swung all the momentum to Weymouth when he stoned Mullins' shorthanded breakaway.

The Wildcats fed off that stop when the second period began as Tyler Piacentini banged in a King rebound at the 33 second mark to make it 2-1.

A little over three minutes later, the Wildcats got the equalizer as Donald Hesse couldn't handle Joe Nardone's shot cleanly and Paul O'Keefe banged in the rebound at the top of the crease.

"We came out a little sluggish in the second period," Lee said. "But give Weymouth credit, they came out very hard also."

Hesse's save on Riley Flanagan's bid late in the second period kept the game knotted at 2-2 heading to the third.

After being caught flatfooted in the second, the Spartans had their jump back in the final 15 minutes as they swarmed around the Wildcats zone. Midway through the third, the pressure paid off on a power play as Tom Braswell banked a Bucky Surette rebound off the back of Brady for a 3-2 lead with 6:33 remaining.

Just over a minute later, though, King took advantage of a breakdown in the Spartan defensive zone to net an unassisted goal and draw the Wildcats back even.

King then got the game-winner at 11:56 when his drive off a faceoff bounced off a St. Mary's skate and past Hesse.

The Spartans would swarm the Weymouth zone in the final moments, barely missing twice on point blank chances, but time ran out.

"We're confident that we can play at this level with these teams," Lee said. "I'm just proud of everyone in that dressing room."

Senior Night

raffle winners Feb 13-19

Sunday:Rene Albano $100 (sold by Nick Albano)
Mon: Bob Mulvihill $250 (sold by Cam Kennedy)
Tues: Save Walsh $25 (sold by C. Parent)
Wed: Ed Zamejtis $25(sold by R. Madden)
Thurs: K Stranahan $25 (sold by B. Mageary)
Fri: B Young $25 (sold by C. Kennedy)
Sat: A Smith $25 (sold by C. Calla?)

Springfield Cathedral 5,

St. Mary's 2

At Olympia West Arena, the Spartans (12-4-3) put up a good fight, outshooting Springfield Cathedral 21-19.

"They're one of the top teams in Division 1," St. Mary's coach Mark Lee said. "It was up and down ... we'd hit the post ... we ran into a goalie. This was a very good high school hockey game."

Springfield led 4-0 until late in the third period (2:24 remaining) when Julian Yourawski scored with assists to Brendan Mageary and James Perkins). Perkins scored less than two minutes later from Andrew Markham and Derek Stella, but Springfield iced the win with an empty-netter with five seconds remaining.

"We gave an awful good effort tonight. We just couldn't find the back of the net," Lee said.

February 14th

Home > Sports

Cam Kennedy (23) of St. Mary's and Mike Vecchione (8) of Malden Catholic fight for the puck in the second period. (Item Photo / Alan Webster)

St. Mary's boys hockey falls just short against MC

By Matthew Roy / For The Item

LYNN - There wasn't a seat to be had at Connery Rink on Monday night when St. Mary's hosted No. 1 ranked Malden Catholic in a game that could be a preview of a possible Super Eight matchup in a couple weeks' time.

And if what happened on Monday was any indication, North Shore hockey fans are going to be in for some great entertainment come March.

For 45 minutes, both teams turned the ice at Connery into their own personal track and gave the standing room only crowd plenty to remember. In the end it was the Lancers who came out with a 3-2 win in a game that went right to the final second.

Click here for a photo gallery.

For the Spartans, it was a drastically different outcome than back in December when MC had blasted them, 8-0, in the Saugus Christmas Tournament. And for coach Mark Lee, Monday's game left him plenty to be proud of.

"Every kid on this team sacrificed their bodies and gave us everything they had on every shift," Lee said. "They did a tremendous job controlling a great team."

The star of the show was Spartan goalie Donald Hesse. The senior from Salem turned in a spectacular 36 save performance, many of them coming on quality scoring chances for the Lancers.

"We ran into a very hot goalie (Monday)," Malden Catholic coach Chris Serino said. "We missed too many good chances but St. Mary's also played very well so give them a lot of credit."

It was a breakneck pace from the outset as the two teams didn't waste a lot of time in getting reacquainted with each other. It was the Spartans (12-3-3) who would get the game's first power play chance when Garrett White was called for tripping at the 4:02 mark.

It didn't take long for St. Mary's to get its crowd into the game as Bucky Surette was stood up at the MC line but made a slick pass to Bobby Mullins for a 2-on-1 that Brendan Mageary finished off over Pat Young's blocker for a 1-0 lead at 4:44.

Ironically it would prove to be the only shot that St. Mary's would get on goal in the first 15 minutes.

The Lancers (12-2-2) began to crank the pressure up around Hesse and late in the first it paid off as Brendan Collier and Saugus' Mike Vecchione finished off a nifty give-and-go with Collier's 21st goal of the season and a 1-1 tie after a period.

"We had a game plan going in and it was great to see that for the most part we stuck to the defensive scheme that we wanted to play," Lee said.

Early in the second, Spartan defenseman Cam Kennedy was called for a trip and the Lancers would get the first of what turned out to be five power play chances in the middle period.

St. Mary's dodged bullets on the first two man advantages thanks to Hesse and a couple of goalposts but the third time was the charm for MC as Ryan Fitzgerald fired a laser over Hesse's shoulder from the right circle midway through the second for a 2-1 Lancer lead.

The Spartans nearly had that goal back moments later but Young made his best stop of the game when he robbed Connor Parent's bid on a 2-on-1 with Tom Braswell. Just over two minutes later, the Lancers upped the lead to 3-1 when Garrett Young worked his way past three defenders and lifted a shot over Hesse at 10:38.

Two minutes later, the lead was cut back to a goal as Surette picked the pocket of an MC defenseman at the Spartan blue line and fought off a hook to score on a breakaway to make it 3-2 heading to the third.

"(St. Mary's) didn't get a lot of shots but they were able to take advantage of them," Serino said.

The final 15 minutes served as a stage for Hesse to show why he's regarded as one of the top goalies in the state. The Lancers had an 11-3 shots advantage over the final period, but the senior came up with brilliant save after brilliant save.

"Any great team starts with a great goalie and we're fortunate to have one of the best," Lee said. "And he showed it (Monday) with how he played."

The Spartans would go for broke in the final minute, calling timeout with 42 seconds left to get an extra attacker on. But the Lancers thwarted St. Mary's final push.

Lynn Item February 14

Home > Sports St. Mary's player Tommy Braswell scored twice in the Spartans' victory over St. Peter Marian. (Item File Photo) Spartans cruise past St. Peter Marian, 5-1 By Kevin Doyle / For The Item LYNN - There wasn't much of anything artistic about the St. Mary's hockey team's 5-1 decision over St. Peter Marian Saturday night at Connery Rink. Nevertheless, SPM provided little resistance as the Catholic Central Large champion Spartans ran their overall record to 12-2-3. Junior Tommy Braswell scored the first and last goals, bracketing single tallies from Julian Yourawski, Chris Surrette and Jordan Manthorne. St. Mary's skated four lines throughout and starting goalie Donald Hesse got a rare rest from freshman Patrick O'Leary, who provided third-period relief. "Certainly not one of our best outings," St. Mary's coach Mark Lee said. "I wasn't happy with the effort. We were sloppy at times. We played in spurts and took a lot of time off. The positives are that we skated four lines and played two goalies." As they embark on a season-defining week of non-league games starting with tonight's re-match against Malden Catholic (Connery, 8 p.m.), Lee knows the Spartans must ratchet it up several notches. A Thursday visit to surging Springfield Cathedral - which shut down surging St. John's Prep Saturday - and Saturday's home date with Bay State Carey power Weymouth follow. "This is the week that will tell us where we are. For us to compete, our level of play has to be much higher. Certainly, up to this point, having won the league with a 7-0-3 record, I think we deserve to be considered for the Division 1A Tournament. We need to finish strong but the (selection) committee has usually rewarded our league champion with a spot," Lee said. Braswell staked the Spartans to a quick 1-0 lead Saturday, striking just 2:27 into the game. Defenseman Nikko Markham's shot from the high slot caromed off a Guardians defenseman and glanced off the outside of the left post where Braswell was stationed to sweep a backhander in behind SPM goalie Tyler Miller (33 saves). Cam O'Neill's persistent forechecking and subsequent dish from the rear wall set up Yourawski for a 20-footer from the right circle that beat Miller to the short side for the eventual game-winner and a 2-0 lead with 7:46 left in the period. St. Mary's scored twice 52 seconds apart late in an otherwise uneventful second period to put it out of reach. Brendan Mageary's indirect pass off the left wall sent Manthorne away for a five-hole finish at 11:59. Surrette made it 4-0 at 12:51 with a mid-air swat after Miller got a stick on Braswell's pass from the left circle but couldn't control the puck. Braswell's power play strike, a rebound deposit of defenseman Cam Kennedy's shot from the high slot, made it 5-0 with 9:44 to play. The Guardians (3-14-0) avoided the shutout when James Blute scored off a faceoff to O'Leary's left with the teams skating four aside with 7:59 remaining. Lee said that in order for St. Mary's to avoid a repeat of an 8-0 loss to Malden Catholic in December, the Spartans must build on their third-period performance in that game. "We were a little bit in awe in that first game. We were standing around, they jumped on us and we never recovered. We were much more physical in the third period and, hopefully, we learned from that game. We have to do all that we can to control that first line," Lee said.

calendar winners week of Feb 6 - 12

Sun, Feb 6: K. Stranahan (sold by B. Mageary) $100
Mon, Feb 7: Patty Simmons (sold by C Sanderson) $25
Tues, Feb 8: Rick Madden (sold by R. Madden) $25
Wed, Feb 9: B. Lapointe (sold by Butler) $25
Thurs, Feb 10 Jack Barry (sold by C. Kennedy )$25
Fri, Feb 11: Beth Kacheucer?? (sold by B. Wilkins) $25
Sat, Feb 12: Adena Avery (sold by T. Aylward) $100

calendar winners week of Feb 1 - 5

Tuesday: Joann Serino  $25 (sold by B. Wilkins)
Wed: Ed Dalton $25 (sold by F. Morechi)
Thurs: Bob O'Meara $25 (sold by C. Parent)
Fri: Ann Reddy (Mike's Mom) $25(sold by Cam Kennedy)
Sat: Loretta Surette $100 (sold by B. Mageary)

Boston Globe article Feb 10

Globe North High School Hockey

St. Mary’s sets bar at Super 8

Captains leading Spartans to success

Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff (Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff)

By Arielle Aronson

February 10, 2011

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The St. Mary’s of Lynn boys’ hockey team has tasted success before. The Spartans advanced to the Division 1 North final last March before losing to Arlington Catholic, 2-1, the eventual state champion, and finishing 15-8-1 overall.

This season, St. Mary’s has set its sights on uncharted territory: a spot in the Super 8 tournament. And led by a group of seniors that demand hard work and a team-first attitude from every player on the squad, the Spartans (9-2-3) are making a strong case.

“Everything about this leadership and the senior group, it’s all about for the good of the team and the good of the program,’’ said St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee. “Every one of them leads by example and has had some success over their four years here, and they’re passing that on to the younger kids.’’

Those “younger’’ kids not only include the underclassmen on the varsity squad; earlier this season, a group of seniors held an informal clinic for youth hockey players in Lynn.

The visit served a dual purpose — work with the youngsters on improving their hockey skills while reminding the varsity players that the game should be fun. Two of the three captains at St. Mary’s, James Perkins and Cam Kennedy, reside in Lynn and volunteered to help out with the youth hockey clinic.

“I played Lynn youth hockey,’’ Perkins said. “It was real good because we grew up watching St. Mary’s play hockey, and I would have loved for them to do that when I was young, so it was fun.’’

For Kennedy, the clinic served as a reminder.

“It was great because especially in high school, you play 20 games and we have practice just about every day,’’ he said. “It gets kind of grueling and you kind of lose the fun sometimes. Definitely skating with them brings you back, that it’s just a game and you should always have fun with your buddies.’’

The Spartans are having fun so far. St. Mary’s has lost just twice: an 8-0 defeat to Malden Catholic, the top-ranked team in the state, and a 5-3 setback to defending Super 8 champion Hingham.

Their success starts with the three captains; Kennedy, Perkins, and senior forward Julian Yourawski. At 6-foot-1, Kennedy is an intimidating defenseman who also has a bit of firepower. Perkins (4 goals, 12 assists) is second on the team in scoring. According to Lee, when Perkins speaks, every player listens. The fastest of the trio, Yourawski is a pest on the ice, always getting in lanes and sacrificing his body for the sake of the team.

Together, the three form the core of the leadership, but all nine seniors have done their part.

Page 2 of 2 --

“This particular group is one of the more talented groups that I’ve had,’’ Lee said. “As far as attitude and discipline and leadership, it’s as good as any group of seniors that I’ve ever coached in my career. Their leadership is reflected in how we’ve been doing.

The strong veteran presence of the team was on display against Hingham. Although the game was back and forth, St. Mary’s was never rattled. Until the last few minutes, the Spartans answered each Harborman goal with one of their own.

In net, senior Donald Hesse, a three-year starter and a returning Catholic Central All-Star, is a calming presence.

“Usually your team in hockey goes as far as your goaltender will take them, which gives us a lot of confidence because we know we have a very good one in Donald,’’ Lee said. “The bigger the game, the better he plays. He loves to be that guy out there. In close situations, he seems to always come up with the big stop.’’

Lee noted that St. Mary’s is happy with where it is right now, but it is not quite satisfied. His captains are in agreement.

“Everybody in that locker room, you can see it,’’ Yourawski said. “Everybody has that drive to want to participate in that Super 8 tournament. We’re all going for it. We’re all just taking it one step at a time.’’

Lynn Item Feb 9

By Steve Krause / The Daily Item

For those who haven't followed the St. Mary's boys hockey team, its rise to elite status in Division 1 would seem to be almost meteoric.

After all, it was just about a decade ago that the Spartans were fighting their way to the top of Division 3. Then, they did the same thing in Division 2. Now, they're a week of competitive games away from being serious contenders for a Division 1A (Super 8) selection in the upcoming state tournament.

But don't try to tell coach Mark Lee the rise has been meteoric.

"It's been a lot of hard work ... and by a lot of people," said Lee, en route, with his team, to last night's game at Gloucester. Lee was reflecting on his team's victory Monday over Archbishop Williams that not only gave it the Catholic Central League/Large championship, but left it unbeaten in a league that - almost annually - produces at least one Super 8 team (and very often two or three).

"We've been making a steady climb," says Lee. "Last year, we finished second (in the CCL/Large). This year, we had high hopes of winning it. To do that, and finish undefeated as well, puts the icing on the cake for us."

There's still work to do, however. St. Mary's, including Wednesday night's game, has six games left on its schedule, and three of them will be played next week against the Crème de la Crème of Division 1: Malden Catholic, Springfield Cathedral and Weymouth. And although Lee would - naturally - like to win all three, he feels the Spartans will really help themselves, with respect to the Super 8, with strong showings.

"I think," he says, "that we just need to prove that we belong on the same ice with them. I don't think we necessarily have to win - though you go into every game you play with that expectation - but the committee looks at strength of schedule and how you compete against those types of teams."

Lee can only hope that the Spartans compete the way they did last Saturday in Hingham, when they took the defending Super 8 champion Harbormen to the last minute before the wheels just fell off the wagon - in every way imaginable.

"We were up, 3-2, with 1:45 to go, when we got a penalty called on us," Lee said. "Ten seconds later, we get another penalty, so we're playing them two down.

"I'm not making excuses," he said, "but they score one goal with us two down, and then one of our kids tries to ice the puck, he fans on it, it lands on one of their sticks and they score.

"It was a killer," he said, "but there were so many more positives than negatives. We played well enough to win the game, and it gave us confidence to know that we can skate with the best."

Lee has seen the program through since taking over 24 years ago. And though the team has risen in the divisional ranks, it is still waiting for its first-ever state title.

"Every time we felt we were ready to make the jump (to the next division) we made it," Lee says, "and we, perhaps, left a couple of state titles on the ice in the process. But we just felt it was better, overall, to make the jumps when we did."

Although Lee acknowledges that the team doesn't have a "sniper," and that for it to succeed it needs the collective effort of all involved, he feels lucky to have one of the better goalies in the state in Donald Hesse.

"Last year, he led us to the Division 1 North final with a goals-against average of under two," he said. "This year, his GA average is 1.82 and he has five shutouts.

"I also have to give credit to my three captains - Cam Kennedy and James Perkins (both of Lynn) and Julian Yourawski (of Peabody). They are unbelievable on and off the ice."

These days, there's some pretty lofty peer pressure within the St. Mary's athletic department. The football team last fall went 10-1, the boys soccer squad made the Division 3 North final, both basketball teams are having successful seasons and have to be considered major players in their respective divisions; and - of course - the girls hockey team is riding a 91-game unbeaten streak.

"Is it a coincidence that all our teams are peaking? It's hard to say," Lee said "I do know that there's a great atmosphere at St. Mary's. And it always helps when your sports teams are winning. But this winter season ... it doesn't get much better than this."

Feb 9

St. Mary's 2, Gloucester 1

At Talbot Rink in Gloucester, a night after clinching the Catholic Central League/Large crown, the Spartans (11-2-3) needed a third period goal from James Perkins to get out of Dodge with the win.

"We really didn't come to play, and give Gloucester a lot of credit, they challenged us all game long," St. Mary's coach Mark Lee said.

The Spartans actually trailed 1-0 after one period on a goal from Gloucester's Mike Russo. St. Mary's tied the game early in the second on defenseman Nikko Markham's goal, assisted by Connor Parent.

Perkins notched the game winner at 2:52 of the third, assisted by Bucky Surette and Tommy Braswell.

Swampscott 4, Lynn 1

By Matthew Roy / For The Item

It's been a steady climb for the St. Mary's hockey team since it made the move into the upper division of the Catholic Central League in 2007 and on Tuesday at CDL Arena in Raynham, the Spartans made themselves a little bit of history.

James Perkins broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and added an insurance goal late in the third as the Spartans claimed the CCL Large title with a 3-1 win over Archbishop Williams.

"I am so very proud of these guys," St. Mary's coach Mark Lee said. "We have gotten better every year since we came up to the D1 league and now they've went out and gone undefeated in it."

The Spartans (10-2-3, 7-0-3) bounced back from Saturday's heartbreaking loss to Hingham by not taking a penalty on Tuesday and putting together three brilliant periods of hockey.

Connor Parent gave St. Mary's a 1-0 lead late in the first before Williams tied it early in the second. Perkins' goal midway through the middle period, assisted by Tom Braswell and Bucky Surette, made it 2-1.

It stayed that way until Perkins struck again at 11:21 of the third, assisted by Derek Stella and Tim Aylward.

"I am so proud of this group. Everybody is so dedicated," Lee said.

Hingham game on February 5th

No. 7 Hingham takes step forward in St. Mary's test

February, 6, 2011

 

By Scott Barboza

HINGHAM, Mass. -- If the Hingham boys’ hockey team is to make another run at a Super Eight title when the 2010-11 season is said and done, you can go ahead and circle Feb. 5 as the date the Harbormen turned things around.

Coming into Saturday’s matchup at Pilgrim Skating Arena against No. 4 St. Mary’s of Lynn, Hingham was trying to regain measure of momentum. Ever since their upset of Malden Catholic on Jan. 15, the seventh-ranked Harbormen had hit a rough patch, going 0-3-1 in their last four contests.

Again, Hingham fell behind against St. Mary’s and, despite battling back twice to tie the game, trailed with less than five minutes remaining. That’s when they regained their scoring touch, tying the score once again on Ryan Linehan’s power play strike, then potting the game-winner with 49 seconds to go on Alex Pompeo’s wrister, his second of the game. Tim Driscoll’s empty-net, short-handed goal iced it, giving a Hingham an emotional 5-3 win.

“This was a huge game for us,” said Pompeo, a senior defenseman and team co-captain. “We’ve been in a little bit of a slump and they’re definitely a Super Eight team, or close to it. This was just absolutely huge for us.”

Hingham (7-4-4) stopped their skid with a little help from their power play unit. The Harbormen took advantage on three of seven man-advantage situations.

“We’d been struggling on the power play lately and we’ve been struggling all season to score goal,” Hingham head coach Tony Messina said. “Every game’s been a grind.”

Their latest battle was no different as St. Mary’s (9-2-3), which returned to game action after a 10-day layoff, pressed play in the first period. Bobby Mullins picked up where he left off, tallying his 12th goal of the season with 7:11 remaining in the first. Hingham tied the game 7:21 into the second period with their first of three power play goals on Matt Hughes’ wraparound.

The score remained knotted at 1-1 until a wild third period.

The Spartans regained the lead on Cam Kennedy’s slapper through a screen with 7:20 remaining. Pompeo drew the Harbormen even once again on a goal assisted by Steve Bellew and Linehan via a 5-on-3 power play chance with 5:07 left.

Once again, St. Mary’s forged ahead with Tommy Braswell’s goal off an offensive zone face-off win by Christopher Surrette with the teams playing 4-on-4. Linehan tied the game, 3-3, while falling backward and depositing the rebound from Hughes’ wrist shot.

Pompeo tallied the game-winner with 49.4 seconds on the clock with assists from Bellew and Linehan.

Predictably, the Spartans didn’t go quietly with several quality chances in the waning seconds. With goaltender Donald Hesse pulled, St. Mary’s was playing 6-on-4 with an attack zone face off after a Hingham player was sent to the box with 10 seconds remaining. The draw came to the left of Harbormen netminder Kevin Granatino (who also stopped a St. Mary's penalty shot try by Connor Parent in the second) with Driscoll inside the circle. Messina entrusted the winger to take the face off, citing his strong hands. The senior co-captain and Holy Cross commit won the draw cleanly, lofting the puck on the backhand toward the vacated St. Mary’s goal. The puck trickled past the goal line with 4.3 to go.

Then and only then could the Harbormen celebrate an important victory.

“This type of game, coming from behind, even though they were power plays goals, it’s got to give them some confidence,” Messina said. “We’ve been trying to find something to grab onto while we’ve been struggling.”

He continued: “To come out and pull out a win in this situation, maybe that’s something we can build upon going down the road, at least I hope so.”

With power plays a factor (the Spartans were 0-for-4 on their chances), St. Mary’s head coach Mark Lee said it was only a matter of time before the Harbormen took off.

“What hurt us today was taking some penalties, you can’t beat a team like that short-handed. We just took a couple too many, especially at the end of the game.

“The odds are against you, they’re bound to score in those situations.”

Or maybe luck had finally just swung Hingham’s way.

“We haven’t had in the longest time,” Messina said, “but you also make your own luck in this game. We tell the kids that you’ve got to take and off-angle shot, you’ve got to look for rebounds, tough goals. We like dirty goals as much as the pretty ones, but we hadn’t been getting either. Today we did.”

Boston Globe Feb 6

Boys’ hockey Hingham 5, St. Mary’s 3 — Senior captain Alex Pompeo rifled a shot from the high slot top shelf to break a 3-3 tie with 49.4 seconds remaining as the Harbormen put away the Spartans in what could be a preview of a Super 8 matchup.

The Harbormen iced their victory with an empty-net goal with five seconds left at Pilgrim Arena.

The teams took a 1-1 tie into the third period before St. Mary’s jumped ahead at 7:20 when senior captain Cam Kennedy fired a slap shot through all kinds of traffic.

At 5:19 in the third, the Spartans gave the Harbormen 59 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage. Hingham cashed in quickly, tying the game at 5:07 when traffic in front of the net finally shoved a puck past goalie Donald Hesse

St. Mary’s regained the lead 14 seconds later when junior Tommy Braswell chipped a puck off a faceoff past Hingham’s Kevin Granatino.
1:46  remaining in the game, Hingham tied the score again on its third power play of the period as junior forward Ryan Linehan spotted Hesse drawn to the far left post and slipped a shot into the empty right side.

“That was the best high school hockey game I’ve been involved with in my 25 years of doing this,’’ St. Mary’s coach Mark Lee said.

Jan 31

Boys hockey Super Eight 1/31

DIVISION 1
1. MALDEN CATHOLIC (8-2-2) — Busy week for the Lancers with three games in six days … weather pending, of course.
2. CATHOLIC MEMORIAL (7-5-1) — Three huge points for the Knights last week, just when things could have taken a real sour turn.
3. WEYMOUTH (12-1-1) — Wildcats will try to avenge their “only loss” tonight when they face rival Hingham at Pilgrim.
4. CENTRAL CATHOLIC (9-3-0) — The Raiders would be wise to not overlook tonight’s game against this week’s new top team in Division 2.
5. ST. MARY’S (9-1-3) — Spartans get a chance to justify this leap in the rankings when they visit Hingham on Saturday.
6. READING (9-2-1) — Admittedly, we’ve been sleeping a little too long on the red-hot Rockets, who are unbeaten in their last 10.
The wild cards
7. Hingham (6-3-4); 8. Woburn (10-2-0); 9. St. John’s Prep (7-4-1); 10. BC High (6-3-3)

Rick Comfort
MassHSHockey.com